Goyal asks captains of logistics industry to transform freight operations

New Delhi [India], May 1 (ANI: Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal on Friday asked key stakeholders of the logistics industry to bring down freight operation costs and make them efficient.
"We need end-to-end, non-stop and faster trains along with better signalling systems, better scheduled and timetabled cargo trains and better financing options to transform freight operations and help achieve the target of doubling total freight traffic to 2.5 billion tonnes," he said.
Goyal said the Railways has acted as a lifeline for the nation during COVID-19 crisis by carrying essential goods across the country.
"We also utilised this time for completion of some long-pending works like increasing connectivity to the main lines, carrying out maintenance works, dismantling and repairing damaged bridges besides improving the existing infrastructural facilities," said the minister.
The three-hour meeting was attended by key players and stakeholders of the logistics industry who discussed ways to switch to an assured time-bound delivery model, provide an insurance mechanism for channel partners, rationalise freight rates and make logistic costs more reasonable along with improving the efficiency of loading and unloading at terminals and ports.
The Indian logistics sector is reportedly valued at 160 billion dollars and is likely to grow to 215 billion dollars in the next two years.
The country moved up from 54th position in 2014 to 44th in 2018 in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in terms of overall performance.