Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the ‘National Logistics Portal (Marine)’. 

It is a one-stop marketplace where all logistic stakeholders are integrated for easier, speedier and competitive services, thereby promoting trade and growth.

Features of National Logistics Portal (Marine):

• National Logistics Portal (Marine) is a national maritime single-window platform encompassing complete end-to-end logistics solutions to help exporters, importers, and service providers exchange documents seamlessly and transact business. 

• NLP Marine enriches the user experience through complete tracking of the shipment with notifications on each stage, seamless exchange of documents and ability to securely transact in a transparent and quick manner.

The activities of NLP Marine are categorised into four distinct verticals:

i) Carrier

ii) Cargo

iii) Banking and finance

iv) Regulatory bodies and participating government agencies (PGAs).

• It is an open platform that allows coexistence of multiple service providers to provide EXIM (export-import) related services independently or by using connectivity options. 

• It has the capability to integrate with various port operating systems/terminal operating systems and other stakeholder systems in the ecosystem. 

• It will facilitate real-time information of activities that are generally not in reach of the importer, exporter, customs broker, including vessel-related information, terminal gate, and container freight station (CFS) gate transactions.

• The portal also enables digital transactions for payments required for the clearance process of import and export like CFS charges, shipping line charges, transportation charges, etc. 

• It also includes a single-window certification device to approve transactions, as well as the integration of an online payment service. 

India’s logistics sector

• The logistics sector is the backbone of economic growth in India and is one of the most important accelerators of trade.

• Logistics has been given special focus in the last few years, and many measures in terms of hard and soft infrastructure have been taken to improve the logistics scenario of India.

• According to the commerce ministry, while the Indian logistics sector has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5 per cent, reaching about $215 billion in value during 2020, there are systemic, interconnected problems that must be addressed to enhance its efficiency.

• Comprehensive logistics costs amount to almost 14 per cent of India’s gross domestic product, which is higher than other countries in the world. 

• In September 2022, the Centre unveiled National Logistics Policy that seeks to address challenges facing the transport sector and bring down the logistics cost of businesses from 14 per cent to a single digit.

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