India's First Comprehensive Logistics Cost Assessment Report Launched

(MENAFN- KNN India) New Delhi, Sep 22 (KNN) The first comprehensive report on the Assessment of Logistics Cost in India, prepared by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was launched on Saturday by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

For the first time, India will have a scientifically derived estimate of logistics costs based on a hybrid methodology combining secondary data with nationwide surveys.

The study, mandated under the National Logistics Policy (2022), estimates India's logistics costs at 7.97 percent of GDP, offering a more accurate measure than earlier figures of 13–14 percent that were often cited from external studies.

Officials said the assessment provides a uniform framework to benchmark costs against global practices and guide evidence-based policymaking.

Goyal noted that the government has undertaken a series of reforms to reduce logistics costs and improve competitiveness.

Key measures include mapping Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) codes to line ministries for better trade negotiations, creating a logistics data bank, and rolling out integrated state and city logistics plans under the SMILE programme in partnership with the Asian Development Bank.

Infrastructure initiatives such as the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, Dedicated Freight Corridors, Bharatmala, Sagarmala, and the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) were also highlighted as contributors to efficiency gains.

The report captures logistics costs across transport modes, product categories, and firm sizes, and provides freight cost per tonne-kilometre estimates.

It underscores the role of multimodal transport in improving efficiency and highlights how logistics cost growth has been slowing relative to non-services output in recent years.

In addition to the report, Goyal launched a set of Integrated State and City Logistics Plans, beginning with eight cities across eight states.

The initiative aims to map existing infrastructure, identify bottlenecks, and create blueprints for efficiency improvements that can be scaled nationwide.

(KNN Bureau)

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