Skilling logistics sector the NSDC way

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has identified transport & logistics as one of the priority sectors for bridging the supply demand mismatch. Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC in an interview to Jasleen Kaur elaborates the initiative and plan. 01.What is your assessment of the skill development in transport and logistics sector by NSDC? Logistics acts as catalyst linking supply and demand, and the most important operations for business development. Other than the core competency of delivering goods on time, logistics companies add value to their clients’ businesses by designing and executing complex supply chain cycles, project management and inventory reduction. Transport & logistics has been identified as one of the priority sector among 20 others by NSDC, for bridging the supply demand mismatch across different verticals in the sector. The sector currently employs over 16.74 million people and is projected to employ around 28.4 million people by 2022, according to the recently launched Human Resource and Skill Requirement reports by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and NSDC.

02.What needs to be done to face the challenges of the sector? A majority of players in road transportation, which contributes significantly to the transport and logistics sector, have been small entrepreneurs running family-owned businesses. Given their small scale and limited investment capability, most of their investments have been focused on short-term gains. As a result, investments that pay off in the longer term, such as those in manpower development, have been minimal. Better working conditions, competitive pay scales relative to alternate careers, proper manpower policies and removal of unscrupulous practices are some initiatives which can bring this sector at par to other lucrative sectors. The industry should also come forward to recruit skilled manpower, which will improve efficiency and overall quality of the service. The industry should also promote on the job training and provide premium to the skilled manpower in terms of wages.

03.What initiatives have been taken by NSDC in this sector? Logistics and transportation has been taken up as a priority sector for all the skill development initiatives across the country. In the last four years, NSDC has approved 17 training partners who are conducting trainings in logistics. These partners have trained nearly 12,000 candidates, of which nearly 7,000 have been placed in the last couple of years. Also, the Logistics Sector Skill Council (SSC) has further segregated the sector into eight subsectors i.e. Material Handling, Truck Operations, Warehousing, Crane/Heavy equipment, Container Stuffing/Destuffing, Packaging, Technology and Port Operations/Container Freight Station (CFS). The SSC has standardized 19 job roles through 67 National Occupational Standards (NOSs) for the sector.

04.What is the outlook for skilling in the Indian logistics and transport sector? The ‘Future of e-Commerce: Uncovering Innovation’ study reveals that the digital commerce market in India has grown steadily from $4 billion in 2010 to $13.6 billion in 2014 and likely to touch $16 billion by the end of 2015 on the back of growing internet population and increased online shoppers. Indian logistics sector is estimated to have grown at a healthy 13-15 per cent in the last five years. However, growth in sub-sectors varies, with the lowest being in basic trucking operations and highest in supply chain and e-tailing logistics. We hope that the sector will out-perform its previous year growth with the new initiatives launched by the prime minister such as Make in India and Smart Cities.