The Commerce and Industry and Railways Minister, Mr Piyush Goyal, who recently held a high-level meeting with officials from the Ministries of Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Civil Aviation to review the draft National Logistics Policy and the proposed implementation plan of the policy, has asked the various transport Ministries to find ways to reduce logistics cost in the country to 9 per cent of GDP by 2022 from the current 14 per cent, says a report.
He directed all four Ministries to work in coordination to achieve this aim.
It is also learnt that one key aspect discussed at the meeting was the need to reduce the time taken for the transport of farm produce such as foodgrains, fruits and vegetables from the farm to the market. In this regard, there was talk about having a Central scheme for cold chain across the country to be included in the draft logistics policy, the report said.
Moreover, the Minister also directed that whenever any new road, railway, airport or sea port project is being considered, the Logistics Department in the Ministry must be a part of the consultation process so that holistic planning will be possible, freight movement will be rationalised, and passenger experience will improve, the release added.
