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Source: The post is based on the article “India up 6 places on WB’s logistics index” published in TOI on 24th April 2023
What is the News?
The World Bank has released the Logistics Performance Index 2023.
What is the Logistics Performance Index(LPI)?
Released by: World Bank
Purpose: It is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance.
The index measures the ease of establishing reliable supply chain connections and structural factors that make it possible, such as the quality of logistics services, trade and transport-related infrastructure, as well as border controls.
LPI 2023 allows for comparisons across 139 countries.It measures for the first time the speed of trade with indicators derived from big datasets tracking shipments.
What are the key findings of LPI 2023?
Singapore and Finland are the most efficient and highest-ranked LPI countries as per the 2023 LPI.
India: India is ranked 38 out of 139 countries, climbing six places from the previous index. This achievement is credited to India’s investments in soft and hard infrastructure, along with technology.
What are the initiatives taken by India that helped in improving its ranking?
In 2021, the Government of India launched the PM Gati Shakti initiative, a national master plan for multimodal connectivity, aimed at lowering logistics costs and stimulating the economy by 2024-25.
Subsequently, the National Logistics Policy (NLP) was introduced in 2022 to solve transport issues, optimize manufacturing efficiency, and speed up last-mile delivery in the logistics sector.
India implemented a supply chain visibility platform under a public-private partnership, leading to significantly reduced delays.
NICDC Logistics Data Services provides RFID (radio frequency) tagging on containers. This enables end-to-end tracking for supply chain consignees.
From May to October 2022, India and Singapore had an average dwell time of three days for containers — better than some developed countries. The United States had a seven-day dwell time, while Germany’s was 10.
– Dwell time refers to the amount of time a ship or cargo spends at a port or terminal before being loaded or unloaded onto a vessel. Any delays in a port can disrupt shipping schedules, affecting the entire service.
