New Delhi, Apr 7 (KNN) Addressing the Global Logistics Summit organized by FICCI in conjunction with Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India and World Bank Group, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry C R Chaudhary said that due to inefficient logistics India is losing 14% of GDP.

He also said that this has impacted the competitiveness of Indian products badly.

On outlining various initiatives or measures taken by government to develop sound Transport and logistics sector in the Country, he said “Logistics is an important sector and government is giving importance to the development of better connectivity with projects like Bharatmala Pariyojana, Sagar Mala project and UDAN scheme to boost the logistics system in the country.”

Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry said that in order to achieve high economic growth, India needs to make industry more competitive.

Further he added that cost of manufacturing and services is getting due importance which is an important component of logistics and also stressed on the need of making cost of other things competitive.

On improving logistics, Abhishek said that government is doing capital investments and also working towards infrastructure development; only thing that is required is timely completion of projects.

In this direction, GST is playing an important role in the logistics sector and ease of doing business scenario is also improving, he added.

Jun Zhang, Country Manager, International Finance Corporation said that a comprehensive regulatory framework is required for the logistics sector in India.

On the other side, Sanjaya Baru, Secretary General, FICCI said that efficient logistics will play a vital role in India’s Make in India program. (With PIB inputs)