New Delhi [India], June 24 (ANI): Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday urged the Commerce industry to work with the government to bring down the logistics cost from 12-14 percent to 7-8 percent as prevailing in the developed countries.

The Government of India hosted its first-ever National Logistics Excellence Awards in New Delhi today. Piyush Goyal along with the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash Sharma gave away the awards in 12 categories.

The National Logistics Excellence Awards aim to acknowledge the many logistics service providers in the country that have been able to display innovation, diversity, and efficiency.

With 169 entries and 12 categories for awards in its first edition, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries undertook a year-long process of identifying, categorizing, and selecting qualified applications. An Expert Screening Committee of 18 diverse experts and a National Jury of 9 senior dignitaries were formed to make the final deliberations.

The minister emphasized the expansion of infra spending from Rs 2.5 lakh crore to Rs 7.5 lakh crore and Gati Shakti will benefit the logistics sector most with investment across roads, highways, ports, airports, multi-modal terminals, etc.

Goyal said that GatiShakti will help in efficient planning and implementation, thereby ensuring that last-mile connectivity-related issues are not there. He also informed that the government is actively thinking of promoting the manufacturing of containers and ship-building.

He appreciated the role played by the logistics sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the resilient and efficient supply chains developed by the operators in the logistics sector helped India overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the growth in trade seen over the last two years.

Further, he also asked the industry to involve start-ups to become more transparent and efficient.

The minister said going forward, a separate category of awards should be created for MSMEs in the logistics sector given the role played by them.

Meanwhile, MoS Som Parkash Sharma said that the availability of cost-effective logistics is critical for the growth of the Industries and the Indian Economy and that adoption of technologies and up-gradation of skill levels of human resources engaged in the sector is a must.

Anurag Jain, Secretary of the DPIIT, acknowledging the excellence portrayed by the logistics sector, shared that GatiShakti, Atmanirbhar Bharat, driven by many MSME and Startups of the country, make the logistics sector very crucial to India's economic ambitions.

In addition to the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) report that measures the appreciation of the endeavours of the State Governments, the Logistics Excellence Awards will continue to be an annual exercise recognizing excellence in logistics within the private sector in India. (ANI)