The launch of the plan will enable reduced transit costs, increased efficiency and lower inventory expenses for startups and SMEs
With the launch of the portal in August, warehousing and logistics companies will also be able to bid for contracts for four multi-modal logistics parks
The goal of PM Gati Shakti is to enable logistics efficiency via railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, and mass transport connectivity
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) are reportedly working towards finalising the guidelines to make the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan portal available to the public.
To improve the logistics sector, the central government had introduced the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity to various Economic Zones via tech adoption and speedier implementation. The goal is to enable logistics efficiency via railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, and mass transport connectivity.
The move also lays out the vision to transform energy infrastructure across the nation via a one-click comprehensive view model – that will help users build transportation plans and implementation processes.
The Gati Shakti portal was also at the centre of the Union Budget 2022 wherein, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined that India targets 25,000 km national highways in 2022-23; a revamped unified logistics interface platform, an open source mobility stack, the integration of postal and railway network, 400 energy-efficient Vande Bharat trains and multimodal connectivity for urban transport and transit stations.
The move is intended to largely benefit the Indian ecommerce and D2C ecosystem, especially for SMEs and startups. The government has stated that the Gati Shakti initiative will reduce the logistics cost to 8% of the country’s GDP from the current 13% – positively impacting the prices of essentials and consumer spending on non-logistics needs.
Besides this, warehousing and logistics companies and startups will be able to bid for contracts for the implementation of multi-modal logistics parks at four locations in 2022-23.
With the plan launching next month, here’s how SMEs and startups stand to gain from the PM Gati Shakti National Portal.
Once 100 PM Gati Shakti cargo terminals are developed, land cost which is prohibitively high for SMEs and cargo terminals will now meet the warehouse needs of small and medium enterprises, Smartr Logistics’ Yogesh Dhingra told Inc42 previously.
“Several departments of the government working in unison also means that be it B2B fulfilment from warehouse to stores or B2C orders like delivery of food, grocery and services; all of these will become much easier,” LogiNext’s Dhruvil Sanghvi pointed out about how startups might potentially benefit from the plan.
Other benefits include reduced transit cost, increased efficiency and lower inventory expenses, better access to data and popularisation of local businesses and supply chains.
