Balagopal Balachandran, National Head, Air Freight, FEI Cargo, said, “Most developed and emerging economies systematically measure logistics costs to benchmark efficiency and competitiveness. India’s logistics story is now visibly shifting. DPIIT’s estimate of costs easing to 7–8 per cent points out to a structural improvement in how goods move across India. Expanded highways, FASTag-enabled cashless movement, rationalised axle norms, and fading of border queues post-GST have shortened transit times, eased fuel, inventory, and cash flow pressures. The focus must now move from early stage efficiencies to deeper, structural gains. India remains road-heavy, rail modal share is under leveraged, and productivity is constrained by fragmented warehousing, weak port–rail interfaces and uneven digital adoption beyond large operators. Sustained efficiency will depend on faster multimodal adoption, stronger last mile integration, and operationalising PMGS as a unified data driven planning and execution platform.”
