India's logistics sector to clock 10.7% growth till 2026, create millions of jobs: Centre
The government's decision to grant the sector infrastructure status has enabled access to cheaper, long-term funding, similar to roads and railways, further solidifying its significant role in the growth story of India.
Several government initiatives like the
National Logistics Policy
(NLP),
PM GatiShakti
, GST and Logistics Parks are modernising infrastructure and cutting costs.
"The sector employs over 22 million people and is creating millions of new jobs. Inland Waterways reported a record cargo of 145.5 million tonnes for 2024-25. Digitalisation and tech platforms like ULIP are boosting efficiency and transparency across supply chains," according to the official data.
India stands as the fourth-largest economy in the world. Different sectors, including the service, manufacturing, and agriculture, led India's strong recovery after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, resulting in 15.3 per cent growth over the two years.
India has since maintained its status as the world's fastest-growing major economy, with a real GDP growth rate (at constant prices) of 6.5 per cent in the year 2024-2025.
Stronger supply chains today mean a stronger, more resilient India tomorrow. The government's push for infrastructure development and digitalization has further accelerated growth, establishing India as a key logistics hub in Asia.
In July 2017, a separate logistics unit was created under the Department of Commerce to oversee the Integrated Development of Logistics Sector.
The National Logistics Policy (NLP) was launched in September 2022 to create a more seamless logistics ecosystem by improving efficiency and reducing logistics costs. As part of this reform, digital initiatives like the
Unified Logistics Interface Platform
(ULIP) and the Logistics Data Bank (LDB) are now fully operational, aiming to enhance ease of doing business and enable tracking of containerized Export Import (EXIM) cargo.
PM GatiShakti Master Plan was launched in October 2021 to integrate different modes of transport into a coordinated network. The PM GatiShakti has brought together 57 Central Ministries/Departments and all 36 states and union territories. It has also integrated massive 1,700 data layers, creating a truly unified and comprehensive platform for infrastructure planning.
The Ministry of Railways is currently developing two
Dedicated Freight Corridors
(DFCs), namely, the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor(EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1,337 km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1,506 km).
Out of the total 2,843 kms, 2741 Route Kilometers (96.4 per cent) are operational as of March 2025. The corridors are expected to accelerate industrial development and create significant
employment opportunities in logistics
and related sectors.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
5 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Govt confident of meeting fiscal deficit target despite planned tax cuts
India is confident of meeting its fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent for the current fiscal year, according to a government source with knowledge of the matter, despite its plans to cut consumption tax later this year. In the biggest tax overhaul since 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced sweeping changes to the complex goods and services tax (GST) regime which will make daily essentials and electronics cheaper. "India's federal and state governments have options to offset any loss of revenue due to lowering of rates," the government source said without providing further details. The source also said it will end the practice of collecting compensation cess by December. The GST compensation cess is an additional levy imposed on certain items to compensate states for any revenue loss incurred due to the implementation. India's finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of office hours.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Reforming the GST regime
The Goods and Services Tax (GST), when it was finally implemented after decades of labour, was India's largest ever indirect tax reform. It created a nationally unified market and a unique federal forum for governing it. Doing away with state-level bumps in the indirect tax regime, however, was only one of the GST's promises. It was also expected to make the tax regime simple, especially in terms of slabs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech has raised hopes of this promise being fulfilled eight years after GST's roll out. Speaking from the ramparts of Red Fort — the directional changes were later shared by finance ministry officials — Modi said that the Union government has sent a proposal to the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted by the GST Council to unleash second generation reforms in GST, which, among other things, will bring most items under just two slabs of 'standard' and 'merit' with some exceptions being put under 'special rates'. HT reported earlier that the Centre has been mulling this, but also pointed out how the GST Council has not met for a long time now. While Modi announced that the reforms, especially on the slab front, would likely be rolled out before Diwali (second half of October), a GST Council meeting is yet to be notified. The idea, at least in principle, ought to be welcomed unequivocally. It will simplify the tax regime and take politicking out of setting tax slabs. However, the devil may very well lie in the details. Any large-scale revision in GST slabs will have to take into account its revenue implications as well as a possible inflationary impact. These two are likely to work in opposite directions and are critical factors for the fiscal and political health of the governments in charge, both in the Centre and the states. One would like to believe that a large part of this homework has been done by the GoM and state governments are on the same page with some of these salient findings. We will know more when these proposals are discussed in the next GST Council. A simplified GST is a much-needed step in India's long, even if gradual, road to reforms. Ideally, this reform should have happened earlier and definitely not in the current environment of global economic turmoil. But that's what political friction to reform sometimes entails.
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
India confident of meeting fiscal deficit target, despite planned tax cuts
India remains confident in achieving its fiscal deficit target of 4.4% for the current fiscal year, even with planned consumption tax cuts. Prime Minister Modi announced significant changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, aiming to reduce the cost of daily essentials and electronics. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads India is confident of meeting its fiscal deficit target of 4.4% for the current fiscal year, according to a government source with knowledge of the matter, despite its plans to cut consumption tax later this the biggest tax overhaul since 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced sweeping changes to the complex goods and services tax (GST) regime which will make daily essentials and electronics cheaper."India's federal and state governments have options to offset any loss of revenue due to lowering of rates," the government source said without providing further source also said it will end the practice of collecting compensation cess by December. The GST compensation cess is an additional levy imposed on certain items to compensate states for any revenue loss incurred due to the implementation. India's finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of office hours.
