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The market opportunities in India for the logistics service companies
brought about by the sustained expansion and transformation could top US$7
billion.
As the Indian economy starts gathering momentum, there's going to be a
greater need for logistics.
"With a reasonably large geographical span, the country's domestic
consumption will call for significant amount of movement of goods. On the
other hand, as trade liberalisation grows, imports and exports would offer
even more opportunities for logistics companies, said Minal Shanghavi, from
IBM Business Consulting Services India.
He said there is considerable consensus that there is a tremendous
opportunity for companies that can piece together the logistics jigsaw
puzzle in India.
The market is open to companies that can convince clients of the strategic
nature of logistics and the opportunities presented and also that can
leverage their global expertise to create economies to offer better service
at lower costs.
Shanghavi said logistics is one of the most complex activities in India -
given the moderately large geographic spread, wide diversity in the
infrastructure available, a maze of local and national government
legislations as well as a host of service providers to deal with.
As a result, the cost of logistics in India is on the higher side, as
compared to other countries - for example, while India spends about 12% of
GDP on logistics, US and Australia spend only about 9 per cent, he told
participants at the 3rd Asia Maritime & Logistics Conference in Kuala Lumpur
last week.
Shanghavi said in line with the experience of most progressive
organizations, the view of logistics has transformed over the last few
decades.
"From a single activity view, that of movement and warehousing of goods,
logistics has now become strategic in its importance. From just being a cost
that had to be somehow reduced, logistics is now a key enabler in running an
extended enterprise in an integrated and harmonized manner," he added. |
