Logistics Development Committee constituted to suggest reforms for ease of doing trade

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has constituted a Logistics Development Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Bibek Debroy, Chairman of EAC-PM to assess key challenges and suggest reforms in logistics development and associated commerce.

Composition of the Committee

The committee comprises secretaries and heads of the concerned departments and ministries such as Revenue, Commerce, Logistics, DIPP, Civil Aviation, Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Railways, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

It also included Dr. Jayanta Roy, a well-known trade policy expert specialising in trade and logistics facilitation.

Key Highlights

• The committee conducted several rounds of deliberations with various stakeholders that included senior officials from the Union and State governments, industry associations, trade and logistics sector representatives.

• Based on their review and assessments, the committee prepared a comprehensive logistics and trade facilitation reform agenda.

• The reform agenda comprises a number of specific policy actions covering the entire logistics value chain.

• It is designed to fundamentally re-engineer the existing business processes of the government and intended to facilitate an integrated “whole of the trade value chain” approach.

• Further, it proposes a new institutional framework to leverage co-operation from all stakeholders towards a common shared goal of transforming this space.

• The committee’s report has been submitted to the Government for consideration.

Background

Boosting trade and making India a simple and easy place for doing business are an integral part of the broader economic priorities of the Government.

The Government is in the process of implementing a number of reform initiatives in this regard.

Some reforms are designed to target the hardware aspects of trade, which includes augmenting and modernising the hinterland logistics and infrastructure connectivity, while some others are designed to target the software aspects, which are related to regulatory and procedural environment for trade.

As a result of the reforms, though the broader trade and logistics ecosystem in the country has improved considerably, users still continue to face some challenges in this space.

Therefore, the Government is determined to implement more reforms to create a smooth and efficient environment across the logistics value chain.