East Zonal conference on PM Gatishakti –National Logistic Policy held in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: Under the aegis of Ministry of Coal, the east zonal conference on PMGatiShakti (NationalMasterPlanforMultimodal connectivity) and National Logistic Policy was held recently in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The programme supported by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, a Government of India enterprise and the Government of Odisha focuses on integrated infrastructure development in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. It was attended by Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, Chief Secretary, astheChiefGuest.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Secretary underscored the fact that logistic is the biggest challenge before the country. Appreciating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visioninlaunchingthePMGatiShakti program, Shri Mohapatra said it will go a long way in ending the silos style of functioning that prevailed among various departments in the transport sector. Bringing various departments and ministries on a single platform will greatly address the huge volume of transportation of minerals and materialsacrossthecountry.

Referring to Odisha, Mohapatra said the state alone transports thermal coal to as many as 14 to 15 states across the country. Underlining the need of logistic development in the eastern region Shri Mohapatra said this region is the growth engine of the country. In his context, he said a robust futuristic plan needs to be put in place and executedinthesectoroflogistics.

In his address, as the Guest of honour the Secretary, Ministry of Steel,GovernmentofIndia,Nagendra Nath Sinha said, for the steel sector logistics are like a situation of life and death. Elaborating on the importance of logistics, he said for every tonne of steel that we produce, 4 tonnes of material has to be moved. So, for producing 120 million tonnes of steel, about 600 million tonnes of material has to be moved across the country. The total cost of logistics is around 28 percent of the total cost of production in the steel sector. If we need to cut down the cost of production, we have todecreasethecostoflogistics,which is well envisioned in the PM Gatishaktischeme.

Besides the existing modes of transport like the rail, road and water connectivity,ShriSinhasaidthereisa need to think of even new mode and manner of logistical support so that the cost can be significantly cut down. He also stressed upon the appropriate mode of transport of material to reduce cost and improve efficiency.StatingthatcurrentlyIndia is having 80 KG per capita consumption of steel as against about 700Kginthedevelopedcountries,the UnionSteelSecretarysaidevenwhen we join the middle ranking countries the demand for logistics will go up, thereby calling for significant reductioninlogisticcost.

PM Gatishakti National Master Plan (NMP), a transformative approach for improving logistics efficiency and reducing logistic costs, was launched for integrated infrastructure development in the country. The objective is to bring different Ministries / States / Departments/Industries together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivityProjects.

The conference was attended by senior officials of East Zonal States and different Ministries like Coal, DPIIT, Railways, Power, Steel, Fertilizers & Chemicals, MoRTH, Shipping Ports & Waterways along with Industry representatives of East Zone.

The conference aims to have in depthdiscussionsandsuggestionsfor inclusivedevelopmentoftheregion.