UndefinedEmerging Opportunities for Public Private Partnerships in Logistics, Infrastructure and Connectivity Undefined

Online, February 27, 2014 (Newswire.com) - CII Andhra Pradesh in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh organised a Conference on Andhra Pradesh as a Multi-modal Logistics Hub, here today. The objective of the Conference was to focus on the opportunities available in the intermodal and multimodal logistics and address the challenges in this sector. The Conference also focused on infrastructure, regulation and technology issues.

Mr. Girish Pillai, Adviser - Infrastructure, Railway Board in his special address said, "Dedicated Industrial corridors all acrosss the country will make tremendous difference to the manufacturing sector which is going down. There is a need of private initiatives to increase the scope of capacity. The Railways has opened up a lot of opportunities for PPPs. Private containers, rail side warehousing, investment in infrastructure, support in last mile connectivity are some of the avenues. Also, 3rd party logistics help decrease overall logistics costs. A model shift from road to rail and a model mix of logistics is required."

In a special address Mr., IAS, Secretary - Investment & Infrastructure Dept.,Government of Andhra Pradesh shared a brief overview of the government's plans towards Logistics and Supply Chain. "Formation of AP Maritime Port is expected soon and also a Civil Aviation Policy towards Logistics is on its way. The AP government has worked in the direction of creating a grid for Oil and Gas. Panel has been set to develop a new port in the state through public private partnership (PPP). The development of new ports aims to significantly increase the country's cargo-loading capacity. The government has also proposed to develop other ports to be developed under PPP Mode" he said. Talking about multimodal logistics he said, "Some Private participation is required in Railways as well. The infrastructural gap needs to be filled in and we need to migrate from road to rail".

Mr. Agrawal Associate Director - Transport & Logistics, KPMG shared the growth of Indian Logistics and Supply Chain Industry, which, he opined, was traditionally a work of art and not scientific. "The scope and the idea has totally changed and involves the key parameters of transportation, efficiency, quality management and cost reduction".
Earlier, in his welcome address, Mr., Convenor - CII Andhra Pradesh Ports & Logistics Panel & Founder & CEO - GATI Limited opined that the sector contributes significantly to the GDP of the country and has lot of room for improvement as well as expansion.

The day-long conference was attended by over 150 delegates from the Logistics, Transport and Supply Chain fraternity.