Infrastructure development for movement of cold chain products, enhanced capacity at airports and freight terminals is top priority to increase efficiency of perishable goods, highlights Vaibhav Vohra, Managing Director, Continental Carriers. He stresses that the industry needs AFSs to expedite ferrying of export goods.
Ritika Arora Bhola
How efficiently the Indian air cargo industry is moving towards achieving the govt’s vision of 10 million MT by 2030?
- Growing rate: The Indian cargo industry has grown at an impressive rate of 9-10 per cent since 2013-14, indicating a positive trend in the industry’s development.
- Increasing revenue: Airlines have seen a substantial rise in cargo income over the previous two years, indicating the sector’s potential and post-pandemic recovery.
- Infrastructure expansion: The government is working to improve cargo handling infrastructure and aims to open 33 new domestic cargo terminals by 2024-2025. It is also investing in greenfield and brownfield airports, NHs, and rail infrastructure. These projects demonstrate a commitment to improving logistics capacities.
- Process reforms: the government’s EoDB initiative is designed to help businesses perform better. Digitalisation, automation, single window statutory approvals, and tax reforms are helping streamline operations and enable faster cargo movement.
- Focusing on regional connectivity: the mission stresses the need to deliver smaller freight loads from tier II and III cities to metros to meet the 10 million MT goal.
Smaller aircraft acquisitions can help promote regional connections and accelerate the industry’s growth. - Throw light on the current bottlenecks and crucial pain points in the industry?
- Shortage of skilled manpower: there is a gap in output of academic institutes imparting knowledge in this domain against the market needs. It is creating pressure on freight forwarders to make such arrangements in place to upskill the entrants.
- Volatile freight rates: freight rates are volatile due to a variety of factors such as fuel prices, geopolitical events, and post-COVID after-effects thereby making it difficult for forwarders to anticipate and manage shipping pricing efficiently.
- Unexpected delays: delays caused by weather conditions, detours, or route changes can occur, requiring effective communication and updates to address customer frustrations.
What are the key focus areas in air cargo?
There is a lot of focus on developing a hub and spoke model to integrate transits between tier I and II cities, resulting in increasing efficiency and lowering costs. Farmers profit from the Krishi Udan initiative, which allows bulk shipping of perishables. Infrastructure development for movement of cold chain products, enhanced capacity at airports and freight terminals, is a top priority to increase efficiency of perishable goods. Increased adoption of paperless processes and electronic documentation have increased the operating speed, while decreasing paperwork. In the Indian air cargo business, such attempts optimize resources, improve connectivity, decrease prices, minimize waste, and increase customer satisfaction.
What will be the key growth drivers for air cargo in 2023?
- Growth in pharmaceuticals: the continued growth of pharma exports from India is driving demand for air cargo services to facilitate fast and efficient delivery of online orders.
- Growing aerospace and defense industry: The aerospace industry, including the manufacturing and maintenance of aircraft, is experiencing significant growth. This expansion results in increasing demand for air freight transporting aerospace components, parts, and equipment.
- Advancements in air freight technology: air freight technology advancements such as tracking systems, automation, and efficient cargo handling solutions, are forecast to increase the speed, safety, and reliability of air cargo operations, thereby resulting in more growth.
- Expansion of international trade: the recovery and expansion of international trade post-pandemic are expected to increase demand for air cargo services, as companies seek to carry products across borders rapidly and efficiently.
Can you highlight the ongoing projects and expansion plans?
India’s first RA-3 accredited Greenfield AFS in Kapashera, New Delhi, handles and processes international cargo, ensuring it’s ‘ready for carriage’. In addition, we are working with our local partners, airlines/shipping lines, customers, and agents to develop the infrastructure at various locations. It will be unitized and cleared by customs following BCAS security rules.
Services offered by our AFS include carting order management, seamless cargo movement, security checks, customs clearance, documentation, secure storage, online booking, and designated pick-up locations.
Forwarders experience cybersecurity dangers as the business becomes digital. How does Continental Carriers address the issue?
We recognize the cybersecurity risks faced by freight forwarders in an increasingly digital business landscape. To address these issues, we implement several measures:
- We provide regular cybersecurity training to our employees, educate them on best practices for data security, and help them identify potential threats.
- We have installed secure networks and systems to protect against cyberattacks, including firewalls, encryption, and other security measures.
- Regular system update and maintenance can help ensure that the systems are up to date with the latest security patches and protected against known vulnerabilities.
- We ensure that third-party vendors and suppliers meet their cybersecurity standards and requirements.
- Our incident response plan is always in place to respond to any cyberattacks quickly and effectively that occur, minimizing damage and reducing downtime.
With the government initiatives such as NLP, Gati Shakti, Krishi Udan, do you think India can achieve its dream to become a transshipment hub?
NLP, Gati Shakti, Krishi Udan and other initiatives are aligned with the vision and mission of the government to enhance the operational capabilities of the cargo industry. We are sure that India will become a transshipment hub soon. In addition, the government’s focus on trade development with both east and west is going to give an additional geographical advantage.
How would you rate infrastructure for cargo storage, handling, and transportation? Do you think there’s room for improvement?
India has invested heavily in modernizing its ports, airports, roads, railways, and logistics facilities to facilitate the movement of goods. Today, India’s major ports have been upgraded and can handle larger volumes of cargo efficiently.
There have been advancements in the use of technology and automation to streamline cargo handling processes as well at these ports. The development of DFCs, such as the
Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, are aimed at improving the efficiency of freight transportation through railways.
Despite these positive developments, there is still room for improvement in India’s infrastructure for cargo storage, handling, and transportation. Challenges remain, including:
Last-mile connectivity: improving last-mile connectivity between transportation hubs and industries is crucial to reduce logistics costs and enhance efficiency.
Intermodal connectivity: enhancing seamless intermodal connectivity between railways, roads, and inland waterways would optimize the transportation of goods.
Reducing transit times: addressing bureaucratic processes, custom clearances, and border crossing inefficiencies can help reduce transit times, benefiting overall logistics.
While the country is making gainful strides in improving infra for cargo storage, handling, and transportation, there are still areas that need attention and investment to meet the growing demands of the economy and international trade must be made.
