Fast Tracking Freight in India
Source : PIB
GS III : Infrastructure
Why in News ?
NITI Aayog, RMI and RMI India’s new report, Fast Tracking Freight in India : A Roadmap for Clean and Cost-Effective Goods Transport, presents key opportunities for India to reduce its logistics costs.
Key Facts
- Due to the rising demand for goods and services, freight transport demand is expected to grow rapidly in the future.
- While freight transport is essential to economic development, it is plagued by high logistics costs and contributes to rising CO2 emissions and air pollution in cities.
- India has the potential to
- Reduce its logistics cost by 4% of GDP
- Achieve 10 gigatonnes of cumulative CO2 emissions savings between 2020 and 2050
- Reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions by 35% and 28%, respectively, until 2050
- As India’s freight activity grows five-fold by 2050 and about 400 million citizens move to cities a wholesystem transformation can help uplift the freight sector.
- Solutions For the freight sector
- Better policy, technology, market, business models and infrastructure development are needed.
- recommendations in the report include increasing the
- Rail network’s capacity
- Promoting intermodal transport
- Improving warehousing and trucking practices
- Policy measures
- Pilot projects for clean technology adoption and stricter fuel economy standards.
- FAME Scheme : Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles schemes that encourage and in some segments mandates the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) with a goal of reaching 30% EV penetration by 2030.
- Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) : High speed and high capacity railway corridor that is exclusively meant for the transportation of freight, or in other words, goods and commodities.
NITI Aayog
- National Institution for Transforming India is a Government of India policy think-tank established by the government to replace the Planning Commission which followed the top-down model.
- Aim for NITI Aayog’s creation is to foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process by the State Governments of India.
- The emphasis is on bottom-up approach and make the country to move towards cooperative federalism .
- The Prime Minister as the Ex-officio chairman and governing council consists of all state Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of union territories and vice chairman nominated by the Prime Minister.
- In addition to full members, there are two part-time members and four ex-officio members and a chief executive officer.
- The temporary members are selected from the leading universities and research institutions.
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