Piyush Goyal launches six initiatives to boost logistics and trade competitiveness

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launched six initiatives on the occasion of the decade-long celebrations of the Make in India initiative. Unveiling a Make in India Commemorative Coin to mark its 10th anniversary, he said that the initiatives being launched will strengthen the Make in India programme and enhance India’s global competitiveness.The launched initiatives are:

Report on Assessment of Logistics Cost in India: Aims to strengthen data-driven logistics planning as per the mandate of the National Logistics Policy (2022), establish a uniform framework for measuring logistics costs, and benchmark them against global practices. The Ministry said that, for the first time, India will have a comprehensive and scientifically derived estimate of logistics costs using a hybrid methodology that combines secondary data with nationwide surveys. The Ministry indicated that until now, logistics costs in India were often misrepresented, with commonly cited figures of 13–14% of GDP derived from external studies or partial datasets, leading to inconsistent estimates and causing confusion among policymakers and global stakeholders. As per the current assessment prepared by NCAER for DPIIT, logistics costs in India are estimated at about 7.97% of total GDP.


Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS) 3.0: Developed by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the initiative aims to further strengthen India’s industrial ecosystem and enhance the competitiveness of industrial infrastructure. The Minister highlighted that the Government is actively developing 20 plug-and-play industrial parks and smart cities under NICDC, with four already completed, four under active construction, and the remaining at various stages of bidding and tendering. He added that the launch of IPRS 3.0 will help assess and benchmark facilities, infrastructure, and competitiveness of industrial parks across the country. The initiative aims to provide stakeholders with reliable data, encourage best practices, and support the creation of world-class infrastructure.


Logistics Data Bank (LDB) 2.0: The initiative aims to boost India’s digital trade and export competitiveness. LDB 2.0 introduces high-seas container tracking, allowing exporters to track containers even after departure from Indian ports across international waters to improve coordination and enhance credibility in global markets. It also offers multi-modal visibility across road, rail, and sea using container, truck, or trailer numbers, as well as railway FNRs through integration with Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) APIs. A live container heatmap will provide location-based views of container distribution across the country, helping stakeholders and policymakers identify imbalances and respond proactively to potential bottlenecks.


Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2025: The initiative aims to benchmark logistics performance across States and Union Territories to support India’s vision of a globally competitive and future-ready logistics ecosystem.


Guidebook on Mapping of Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) Codes: The guidebook allocates 12,167 HSN Codes across 31 Ministries and Departments and aims to enable targeted policymaking and support effective trade negotiations.


Integrated State and City Logistics Plans: The Government has initiated Integrated State and City Logistics Plans under the SMILE programme in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), beginning with eight cities across eight states. The Minister noted that the exercise will help assess existing logistics infrastructure, identify gaps, and provide a roadmap for improving efficiency and reducing costs.

Between 2014 and 2024, India received $667 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), accounting for nearly two-thirds of all inflows since liberalisation. The country’s startup ecosystem has grown to over 1.80 lakh DPIIT-recognised startups, making it the third largest globally after the United States and China, and has generated over 17.6 lakh jobs, with 118 unicorns as of 2025. The Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme, with an outlay of ₹1.97 lakh crore across 14 sectors, has attracted investments of about ₹1.88 lakh crore, with 806 approved applications moving into active implementation, generating over 12 lakh direct and indirect jobs. Industrial capabilities have expanded, with India becoming the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer globally, producing 99% of smartphones domestically. While defence production has expanded to ₹1.51 lakh crore in FY 2024-25, with exports of ₹23,622 crore reaching over 80 countries, five Positive Indigenisation Lists covering over 5,500 items have been issued, with 3,000 items already indigenised, including fighter aircraft, tanks, artillery, corvettes, sonar systems, and helicopters.In the pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing sector, 21 projects under the PLI scheme are producing 54 unique devices, including MRI machines, CT scanners, heart valves, stents, and dialysis machines. India has also begun domestic production of key components for air conditioners and LED lights to reduce import dependency and strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities. In the semiconductor sector, India is moving towards manufacturing its first-ever 2 nm chip, an advancement from earlier 7, 5, and 3 nm technologies, which will support future developments in artificial intelligence, smartphones, high-performance systems, as well as national security and space applications.

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