Logistics sector to see $500 bn annual investment by 2025: Prabhu

Expenditure on investment in logistics, including infrastructure, will touch $500 billion annually by 2025, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Monday.

This will create millions of jobs and remove hurdles hampering India's domestic and global trade, he said.

Prabhu said the government is taking legislative as well as administrative measures for an integrated strategy to reduce logistics related hurdles for boosting domestic and global trade.

High cost of logistics impacts competitiveness and movement of goods, he said.

"Expenditure on investment in logistics including infrastructure will touch $500 billion annually by 2025," he said.

The ministry has agreed to provide a one-time funding support of Rs 8 million towards initial infrastructure and a phase-wise support of Rs 33.9 million for four years.

"We have to increase our share in global trade and logistics plays a very important role in that," Prabhu said while launching a logo for India Logistics. The logo was designed by the National Institute of Design.

Prabhu said the ministry is developing a national logistics portal as a single window market place to link all stakeholders, and preparing an integrated strategy to reduce cost of exports, imports and domestic trade.

"We are taking help of best experts of the world for this. We are also moving to take legislative as well as administrative step to improve our logistics related things," he added.

Prabhu said billions of dollars of investments are required to improve logistics sector.

The Department of Logistics, under the ministry, also inked a memorandum of understanding with Indian institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) to set up a centre for logistics.

The MoU was signed by Joint Secretaries in the commerce ministry Anant Swarup and Keshav Chandra.

The cost of logistics for India is about 14 per cent of its GDP and it is far higher as compared to other countries.

The newly created logistics department, headed by Special Secretary Binoy Kumar is working on these initiatives.