A consultative meeting was held with States to discuss the importance of logistics in cities and the development of Freight Smart Cities to enhance freight movement while reducing congestion, improve living conditions and minimising environmental impact.

Presentations were made by School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi (Dr. Sanjay Gupta) on technical institution in India with expertise on City Logistics to enable the aspiring cities to seek the right technical support in preparation of the City Logistics Plans. Presentations were also made by UMTC (Ms. Shruti Mahajan) giving an overview on the national sustainable urban freight guidelines, GIZ (Indo German Development Cooperation) – Mr Laghu Parashar on the concept of Freight Smart Cities, Rocky Mountain Institute (Ms Akshima Ghate) on city logistics measures for implementation.

Cities, at the core of urban freight movement and contributing to over 63% of India’s GDP, will need to identify interventions and conduct careful planning that can make the urban logistics more efficient and cleaner. These interventions should balance the competing objectives of delivering goods with lower costs and maximum reliability, while minimizing the negative impacts on the urban fabric. If successfully implemented, sound urban logistics interventions can support a dynamic urban economy while preserving a clean, healthy and safe environment.This effort by the government will require a collaborative approach from various stakeholders involved in the urban logistics.

An important stakeholder group comprises of academic institutions and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), which can provide capacity building and technical support directly to identified cities. Such institutions will be able to convene various urban stakeholders and ensure all perspectives are incorporated in city logistics planning. Their expertise and knowledge will aid city governments in formulating successful freight policies. To support this goal of enhancing the urban logistics systems in Indian cities, various distinguished academic institutions and CSOs are invited for a collaborative workshop.

The key objectives of the meeting were :

1. Set a shared vision for the Freight Smart Cities scheme between the government and the institutions
2. Understand the capacities of institutions with regards to their work on urban freight issues
3. Gauge the interest of the institutions in supporting the cities with capacity building and technical assistance with respect to efficient urban freight measures
4. Identify group of institutional champions who will collaborate with for implementation of the Scheme

For developing an integrated and efficient logistics ecosystem in the country, much of the action lies in the cities - this is where the first and last mile operations of supply chains take place. Cities therefore need to develop supply chain awareness so that in due course, rather that regulating / restricting freight flows around times and locations of congestion, they ‘plan for freight flows’ – existing and future. If this is done, benefits will be reaped not only by city stakeholders but the entire economy, as we cut our logistics costs and integrate with global supply chains.

Planning for city logistics would essentially involve: mapping the current state of commodity flows and existing logistics infrastructure, understanding current bottlenecks and choke points, mapping future commodity flows, and preparing comprehensive City Logistics Plans. Key focus areas for City Logistics could be – (a) leveraging automation and digital interventions to increase logistics efficiency, (b) promoting Transit Oriented Development for optimally locating logistics facilities, (c) adopting sustainable logistics practices to ensure minimal impact on environment, (d) introducing city-level ranking to assess the performance based on the initiatives undertaken with respect to city logistics plans. The Logistics division is exploring partnership opportunities with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to leverage synergies for joint development and implementation of the city logistics plans.