Nitin Gadkari emphasizes on reducing logistics costs in India during IITLS

May 05, 2017: At the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit (IITLS) organized by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari emphasized on the need to boost economic growth in the country for welfare of all citizens. He said that from the present GDP of around 7.5 percent the country needs to achieve double digit growth figures. He further said that for India, one of the major impediments to such growth is its high logistics cost.

The minister further said that India’s high logistics costs are a result of the various modes of transport growing and developing in silos, in an un-integrated manner. Integrated, multi modal transport planning will help in achieving a healthy modal mix of transport, which is efficient, faster, safer, import substituting, cost effective and pollution free. He also said that the logistics and transport sector has a very high potential for employment generation. It can provide jobs to the local youth after proper skill training. It can also provide employment opportunities in rural areas.

The IITLS has been organized with the objective of facilitating constructive dialogue between various stakeholders for the development of multimodal infrastructure in the country. For the first time, the Ministries of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Civil Aviation, Railways, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Skill Development, Commerce, Urban Development, Finance, various state governments and industry and infrastructure experts are getting together to deliberate on various connected issue and discuss the modalities for bringing about a transformation of the logistics and transportation scenario in India.