Gujarat To Slash Industrial Transport Costs, Boost Logistics Infrastructure

The process of preparing a City Logistics Master Plan for Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, and Gandhinagar, as well as a comprehensive Logistics Master Plan for the entire state, is nearing completion. The Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) has been entrusted with completing the work. 

After a review meeting with GIDB officials, Industries Minister Balvantsinh Rajput said that the Master Plan will help identify and improve the logistics requirements of Gujarat-based industries, and aid in the preparation of self-off projects.

GIDB CEO P Swaroop said key infrastructure projects implemented by central government agencies, especially those worth over Rs 500 crore, are to be reviewed under the central government's project monitoring group (PMG) mechanism. Under this mechanism, GIDB, as the state's nodal agency, is playing an active role in resolving issues that crop up.

During the meeting, it was decided to expedite the completion of the City Logistics Master Plan for the eight cities and to develop a Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) database. GIDB will focus on reducing logistics costs for industries, enhancing infrastructure facilities, and monitoring major infrastructure projects.

Components Of The Logistics Master Plan

Under the integrated city-level logistics planning, each city will have a dedicated logistics infrastructure plan aligned with its industrial and trade profile. The focus will be on decongesting urban transport by shifting bulk freight movement to dedicated corridors.

For Multi-Modal Logistics Hubs (MMLHs), the focus is on identifying and developing logistics hubs near major industrial zones and transport nodes (rail, road, ports), and integrating them with air, rail, and road connectivity to enhance freight efficiency.

To reduce transportation cost and time, goods movement will be streamlined via better road networks, ring roads, and bypasses, while also rationalising intra-city and inter-city freight movement to reduce delays and fuel overuse.

The digital logistics infrastructure will promote e-logistics platforms for end-to-end tracking and digital documentation. It will also encourage private players to adopt tech-enabled warehousing and fleet management.

For policy and regulatory ease, there will be a single-window clearance for the development of logistics parks and warehouse operations, along with supportive policies to attract logistics service providers and investments.

To improve sustainability and green logistics, focus will be on EV-based cargo fleets for intra-city deliveries and promotion of green warehouses with energy-efficient practices and solar integration.

Besides, there will be city-specific focus areas, like smart logistics integration with GIFT City and upcoming DFC nodes for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, textile and diamond-focused logistics corridors for Surat, engineering and auto-component centric freight zones for Vadodara and Rajkot, and port-linked logistics with agricultural and marine sector focus at Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, and Junagadh.