India's first cargo policy on anvil

India will soon have a policy on cargo, or the carriage of goods, that is being finalised by the new department of logistics, the government said on Friday.

Addressing the fourth Supply Chain Management and Logistics Summit organised by Economic Times, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said his ministry is putting the final touches on a policy for the logistics sector as part of a comprehensive plan to boost business and exports.

It will include a new industrial policy, one for agriculture exports and developing parameters for the country's districts on ease of doing business.

"We are preparing a policy on cargo..it will be the first time that the country will have a cargo policy. The document is in the final stages of preparation and please give your inputs so they can be incorporated," Prabhu said.

According to officials here, the new logistics division in the Commerce Ministry is preparing the national integrated logistics plan, by consulting various stakeholders including logistic-using ministries like fertilisers, petroleum, food, steel, mineral, mines and food processing, among others.

Prabhu also said the ministry is working to create an integrated logistics portal which would act as a single window for getting clearances from all the regulatory authorities, and also act as e-marketplace for logistics.

The government has also decided to make the country's districts as the operative unit as part of a revamped strategy for boosting exports that would incentivise the states, and has asked them to appoint nodal officers at district level towards this end.

Prabhu has said earlier that high logistics costs in India were affecting its export competitiveness and that all states should have separate export policies, with 14 states having already prepared theirs.

--IANS

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