Govt may extend infra status to logistics: PWC

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According to Kalpesh Unadkat, Senior Manager and Nanda Shah, Associate Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers, it is a fact that logistics cost in India is around 13% of GDP compared to 10% in other countries like US, China and Japan. This undoubtedly makes business in India uncompetitive and faces severe challenges as opposed to other countries. A survey recently conducted by a business consulting firm reflects that India loses around 3% of its total GDP due to logistical loopholes. It is imperative therefore that necessary infrastructure is created for logistics sector. Logistic infrastructure would include warehouses, logistics parks, Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ), air cargo centres, agro warehouse and integrated centres, etc.

It is ironical that, India being the second largest producer of food in the world, yet over 300 million people go without two square meals a day. What a colossal waste; food worth Rs. 58,000 crore is wasted every year. Reason: the country processes just 2% of the produce from its $182 billion food industry, mainly as there are not enough cold chain and perishable distribution centres.

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