More than 700 companies have signed up on the app to be launched soon by the government.
“A track and trace app is being developed wherein we will be able to track the movement of trucks, trains and air couriers. This will help private companies track shipments,” said an official.
Companies involved in courier, logistics, shipping and manufacturing have signed up on the app.
The National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC) is involved in developing the app. It would track and trace consignments based on their specific tracking code and measure the reliability of truck movement, and aid real time vehicle visibility.
India already has a Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) as part of the National Logistics Policy, which integrates 35 digital systems of different ministries including goods and services tax.
The higher visibility due to tracking reduces the lead time for overall import-export cycle, lower inventory carrying costs and empty container management.
Separately, the government is also working on a road map for ‘uberisation’ of trucks to reduce the movement of empty trucks and trailers.
“The idea is to find empty trucks or containers within an area of 50 km. It will improve efficiency of logistics,” the official said, adding that a proof of concept has been done.
The aim is to reduce empty truck movement and waiting time, thus reducing the operations and maintenance cost. The efforts are part of India’s plan to bring down the logistics costs to 5-6% of the country’s gross domestic product, which were 7.8-8.9% in FY22, according to estimates of economic think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research. The government also aims to improve India’s ranking in World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index from 38th at present to below 25.
