Int'l agency GIZ to launch pilot project in logistics space

German firm GIZ today said it plans to launch a pilot project in India to detect inefficiencies in logistics and supply chain in view of high pollution by trucks and suggest ways to make the system environment-friendly.
GIZ, whose work is mostly commissioned by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, said it will invest about Rs 90 lakh on the project - Green Freight India - along with Clean Air Asia and EBTC.
"In order to bring attention to this sector and to improve the efficiency of the freight system, GIZ, the lead partner, along with Clean Air Asia and the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) propose to do a pilot with two leading corporates in the country," it said in a statement.

The end objective of the pilot is to understand the inefficiencies in the logistic & supply chain side and device methods of improving them, it said, adding, "The organisations will invest close to nine million rupees in this project".
It said although 60 per cent of the freight in the country is carried by road, the logistics industry is one of the least regulated sectors.
"Although trucks make up a small percentage of the vehicle fleet in India (5 per cent) they contribute disproportionately to fuel use (74 per cent), CO2 emissions (63 per cent), PM emissions (59 per cent), and road accidents (26 per cent)," GIZ said.

Technical Advisor, GIZ, Manjeet Singh Saluja, said, "We are looking for corporate partners with huge logistic requirements, who understand the essence of green logistics, and are willing, to provide top management ownership and monitoring in the issue to join the initiative".
EBTC Transport Sector specialist, Dibyendu Sengupta said the agencies would be able to demonstrate great gains from this pilot.
Parthaa Bosu, India Director and South Asia Liaison of Clean Air Asia said," We are leading green freight in Asia and strongly feel that reducing emissions from trucks can help improve air quality and save lives. Moreover, trucks alone consume almost 30 per cent of the country's total diesel and even if each truck is able to show just 4-5 per cent fuel savings, imagine the amount of fuel and CO2 saved.