Govt announces LEADS survey prior to launch of National Logistics Policy 

April 29, 2021: Ministry of commerce & industry (MoCI) announced the process of conducting the annual Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) survey for ranking states & UTs on their ability to facilitate logistics before the launch of the National Logistics Policy.

Issued by the LEADS project management unit, special secretary (logistics) Pawan Kumar Agarwal requested that the industry should give honest feedback about the situation prevailing, where we are and where we should be.

“The survey is an attempt to get the logistics industry feedback with data prior to the launch of the National Logistics Policy. It is addressing the ease of doing business in terms of technologies, people, processes & multimodality to strategize the policy and identify the interventions government should bring in,” informed a stakeholder involved in the process of framing the National Logistics Policy under the condition of anonymity.

He informed that the National Logistics Policy was delayed by the pandemic and the ongoing process of election in different states.

“We are part of the meetings and had about nine iterations in the draft policy which is going on last two years now. Like the National Education Policy, the National Logistics Policy also has to be passed by the act of parliament. So there will be lots of questions asked about the policy,” he said.

“The government has to introspect, retrospect and bring out certain compliances and policies conducive for the logistics fraternity across shipping, aviation, e-commerce and all 12 sub-sectors of logistics. The logistics policy will be launched in the next 45 to 60 days. It may get delayed due to the lockdown and again depends on the parliament sessions. It can’t go beyond 120 days anyway,” he added.

First launched in 2018, the LEADS index ranks logistics efficiency of states and union territories based on indicators such as infrastructure, services, timeliness, traceability, competitiveness, security, operating environment and efficiency of regulation. The first two editions of the LEADS index had ranked Gujarat number one.

The third edition of the LEADS survey is a pan-national survey of logistics sector stakeholders (such as trader/shipper export/import firms, freight forwarders, transporters, logistics service providers, terminal operators, etc.) to gauge their perception of the logistics environment within the states/UTs.

“We request you to kindly disseminate the information about the LEADS survey to the associated members of your organization and encourage them to fill the survey. The responses to the survey would help us in ascertaining the issues and challenges being faced in the logistics sector at the states/UTs and build actionable insights,” MoCI message said.

The survey can also be undertaken by clicking on here: https://globaleysurvey.ey.com/jfe/form/SV_6lDsV9L2NwroavI

“In case you need assistance in filling out the survey, please feel free to reach out on 09711198098 or by writing us on moci.leads@in.ey.com,” the message read.

The survey divides the respondents according to the nature of the market they deal with (export-import, domestic), position in the company (senior management, middle management, supervisor, operations executive), freight transport mode they deal with (road, rail, airways, waterways), commodity type they deal with (bulk, containerised, perishable, parcel, special, refrigerated, liquid)and the nature of involvement in the supply chain trader, transport service provider, terminal infrastructure provider, logistics service provider).

The survey gives the option to select three states or UTs in India, while it asks logistics professionals to rate the quality of logistics infrastructure, road infra, rail infra, multimodal, unimodal terminal infra and warehousing infra in these states or UTs along with three specific issues faced. It also takes the respondents through their opinion on freight rates efficiency, prices for terminal services, timeliness of delivery, digital connectivity and security.

Part- B of the survey is to seek your opinion on specific components of the three dimension of logistics - infrastructure, services, and operating and regulatory environment.

The stakeholder informed, “The survey is very in-depth and comprehensive. This is a precursor to the National Logistics Policy because it involves 16 ministries (shipping, civil aviation, land transport, commerce) and 12 sub-sectors of logistics. Once the inference is done by Ernst & Young (EY) it will give a picture about which are ministries and sectors are strong and weak. For example, the ministry of transportation is synonymous with corruption, which is a challenge, even though the roads are improving.”

“The road, bridge, rail, metro, infrastructure are improving and things are becoming more paperless. However, what is the other challenges which need to be met by the government is what this survey addresses,” he added.