a)      Theme Presentation on “Investment in Infrastructure: A Time to Reflect” by Mr. Manish Puri, CEO, Quant Partnerships.

b)    Presentation on “India Road Transportation: Ideas to Connect India Better” by Mr. Amit Dawar, Director Customs Brokerage and Compliance DHL Global Forwarding.

c)      Presentation on “ The Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority: Taking Warehousing Sector to New Phase of Growth” by Mr.Basanta Kishore Bal, Member, Warehousing Development & Regulatory Authority.

d)    Presentation on “Global Best Practices and Challenges in India” by Mr. Les Kawoh, Director-Transport DHL Supply Chain.

e)     Presentation on “Ports-Simplification for Maximizing Efficiency” by Capt. Sriram Ravi Chander, CEO, Visakha Container Terminal Pvt Ltd

f)      Presentation on “ Deriving Operational Efficiency through Process Simplification” by Mr. Sanjiv Edward , Head- Cargo , DIAL.

g)    Presentation on “ GST : A Big Mover & Shaker for Logistics Sector “ by Mr. Suhkwinder Singh  

VP- North , Blue Dart Express Ltd

Economic liberalization and the reforms of the early 1990s have led to an average economic growth rate of around 7 % per annum, which is about twice the average rate achieved in the preceding decades. Market confidence in the fundamental strengths of Indian economy and its demonstrated resilience has led to a steady flow of investment. Further, the growing middle class has created a market that has caught the world's attention.

While economic reforms have provided the required impetus, sustainable economic growth also requires adequate social and economic infrastructure to ensure optimum productivity of capital deployed. In the framework of Indian Economy, inefficient investments and poor implementation have led to infrastructure constraints that pose serious challenges to the very concept of sustainable growth.

Public Infrastructure in India has traditionally been owned by the state. However, given the severe execution and inefficiency constraints within the traditional government apparatus, the state has increasingly solicited private sector participation in its development initiatives through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) format. In an ideal environment, PPP should shift the onus of success fulout comes to the private sector partner through its superior project management and efficiency skills, while providing adequate rewards commensurate with the risk to which the private investors get exposed in the process of infrastructure development.

The governments at the Centre as well as the states have progressively opened more Infrastructure sectors to PPP by developing the attendant regulatory, contractual and oversight frameworks. These frameworks have evolved to include lessons learnt over a decade and a half and now include best practices, model contracts and financing formats. Over time, private sector role play is rapidly evolving from mere implementation to design and solutions, reflecting an emerging shift in the state's traditional “procurement” approach toward the private sector to one of “partnership” with the private sector.

According to the Planning Commission of India, infrastructure investments are estimated to touch 8%of GDP by the end of the current five-year plan. The share of private investment in infrastructure is estimated to account for approximately 3 % of the GDP in 2010-11 (or almost 37% of the investment in infrastructure)

The Conference had plenary sessions covering:

a)     Round Table on “Warehousing Infrastructure & Global Supply Chain Efficiency”

      While highways development in the country has received a significant momentum, the complexities in rules   and procedures governing road transport and commercial vehicles continue to keep India’s freight movement by road relatively inefficient. The Session discussed the above mentioned issues and suggests the way forward, streamlining rules and simplifying procedures and regulatory framework both for transportation as well as highways management.

b)    Round Table on “Warehousing Infrastructure & Global Supply Chain Efficiency”

The success of major trading hubs like Dubai and Singapore are a function of these locations being able to provide high-quality warehousing services and value-addition such as integration, quality control, and refurbishment. In India, the FTWZ scheme has been introduced to create hubs that provide such state of the art value addition for India’s exports and imports, and lower the transaction costs of India’s participation in the global supply chain. This is in addition to the on-going thrust on orderly growth of warehousing sector in the country. This session created a dialogue on some challenges being faced by the Warehousing Sector as also the FTWZ, and the need for some procedural reforms to optimize supply chain efficiency.

c)     Round Table on “Rail Reforms: Providing Impetus to Investment”

The XII Five Year Plan calls for increasing the utilization of Rail for freight movement in India. Rail can offer a cheaper and environmentally friendly alternative to freight movement by road. 

There is a huge scope for railways to further consolidate & increase it’s share in the freight movement.  However, it’s present capacity constraints need to be addressed to fully realize it’s potential in the  logistics sector.   PPP which has played a decisive role in other infrastructure verticals can help achieve this potential. 

d)    Round Table on “Ports & Airports: Process Simplification for Maximizing Efficiency”

Ports & Airports have been the key enablers in the growth of infrastructure sector. Despite numerous achievements, there is an imminent need for fine-tuning & streamlining Processes, creating a Healthy Pipe-line of Bankable Projects, execution and monitoring and strengthening Coordination between Government and Private Sector. Aviation cargo handling is expected to reach 7 MT by 2020 from 4.5 MT in 2010. At the same time, port traffic in the country is expected to increase to 1031.50 MT (from 629.64 MT in 2011-12) and 987.81 MT (from 402.50 MT) at Major and Non-Major Ports respectively by 2016-17. Further, it is envisaged that private sector will handle 50% of the nation's cargo by 2015. Against this backdrop, the Session suggested necessary policy interventions for simplification of processes involved in Cargo Handling at Ports & Airports as well as learn from International best practices so as to maximize the operational efficiency. 

e)     Round Table on “Domestic Cargo Movement: Implications of GST”

The proposed Goods and Service Tax (GST) has widespread implications for the Logistics Sector. Logistics is directly affected through tax imposed on Services and indirectly through tax on inter and intra-state sales and excise duties and GST proposes to integrate them all under one umbrella. A well-knitted GST model may have some positive implications for Services sector in general and Logistics industry in particular.

A simplified GST administration would imply creation of a centralized and beneficial registration facility for the Sector. Further, administrative separation of SGST and CGST would simplify the present cumbersome litigation process, besides creating an automated system that quickly processes refunds and reduces hassles. Going forward, the proposed sophisticated IT platform under GST eventually proposes to do away with state border check posts.

Against this backdrop, this Session discussed the likely impact of GST on logistics sector in the country as also highlight the concerns, if any.