L to R: Yashpal Sharma, President ACFI and Satish Lakkaraju, Global Head of Air Freight and Pharma Vertical Radar Ventures Pvt. Ltd.
Air Cargo Forum India, an Association of all Stakeholders of the Air Cargo Logistics Industry, had on 24 June organised a curtain raiser in New Delhi for the annual conclave which will be held on 4th July 2024 at Hotel Taj Palace, Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi. The theme for this year’s conclave would be “Air Cargo: Unlocking Potential, Paving Way for a Developed India.”
Satish Lakkaraju, Global Head of Air Freight and Pharma Vertical Radar Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (WIZ Freight) explained the forthcoming conclave would be different from the previous years. The inaugural session would be attended by the Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu who would be the chief guest and a host of dignitaries from the Government. Lakkaraju was confident that at the inaugural session, they would expect to hear the Government steps and initiatives that are likely to be introduced. The keynote speaker would be Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director, CAPA India.
The other key Government officials would be members from the Director General Bureau of Civil Aviation, Central Board of taxes, Surinder Arihant from the Department for Promotion of Industry, and Internal Trade (DPIIT) etc. The keynote speaker would be Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director, CAPA India who would speak on the aviation industry.
He further explained that the conclave will serve as a platform to deliberate, discuss, and exchange ideas on how the air cargo industry could come together in building a developed nation. The business sessions will shed light on the diverse range of possibilities, opportunities, challenges, and actionable strategies that are integral for the growth of India’s air cargo industry. By addressing various issues and utilising opportunities within the air cargo industry, they were laying the groundwork for India’s advancement and progress towards becoming a developed nation.
There would be three business sessions and two fire chat sessions. There would also be a session for awards on innovation.
The business sessions would dwell on the topic Soaring Ambitions: Building Air Cargo Capacity. This session would focus on development of infrastructure that needs to be done to get to the next stage of achieving annual throughput at airports of 10 million metric tons by 2030.The participants would be Manoj Singh, Chief Cargo Officer, Adani Airport Holdings, Capt. Nikhil B. Ved Managing Director – Blue Dart Aviation, Vishal Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Global Cargo Operations, Delta Air Lines, IAG Cargo and Vaobhav Vohra from the freight Forwarding side and others.
In the second business session the speakers would be Dr. Ajay Sahai from the Federation of Indian Exporters, Tia Bhaduri Mohan – Director – Electrolux etc, Alok Kumar Singh from VVDN Technologies who are a global provider of software, product engineering, electronics manufacturing services and solutions extensively involved in air freight. Prime Minister Modi had referred to this company in one of his speeches. The country head of Samsung will also be one of the speakers. Lakkaraju felt that there was always a debate on the forecast between the airlines and the shippers. This session would be where everyone would be keen to understand clearly the expectation from both sides that would create a win-win situation for both sides.
The last business session would be on Future Skies transforming Air Cato Through Technology and Innovation and Sustainability. Lakkaraju felt that this would be an important secession since technology Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) was being discussed across the globe. Some of the speakers here are Soham Chokshi of Shipsy, a tech-based company who would talk on the current innovations, Zvi Schreiber CEO from the Freightos Group etc.
The fireside chat intends to bring in airline-airport coordination. It was important to understand that while the airline played a critical role, the airport on the other hand brought in various stakeholders. The second fireside chat would dwell on Air Cargo Policy Framework.
The second part of the day would be on the ACFI innovation awards in 5 categories, viz, 1. Enhanced Customer Experience, 2. Competitiveness 3. Air Cargo Safety and Security, 4. Digitisation and Digitalisation and lastly on 5. Sustainability and Go Green. The jury consists of the stalwarts of the industry in India and abroad. The awards carry cash prizes.
Yashpal Sharma, President ACFI, said that one of the good things that ACFI had achieved was that they were able to bring many stakeholders together. Today the whole world was looking at India for what India holds as a promise for them for their businesses and growth. He emphasised that the current conclave projected the India logistics landscape in front of the world. India’s air cargo ecosystem is ready to do whatever is required whether the customer is based in India or abroad. It had to be showcased to them that India had the best airports, the best airlines, the best forwarding solutions, best customs broking solutions etc. So when the big boom of business comes to India, the Indian industry should be there to service them with regard to infrastructure, processes, facilities, digital syncs etc. It was important the conclave projected all the attributes to the dignitaries representing global carriers, terminal operators, etc. The fact that there was much interest in India was evident from the conclave panel which consisted of a conglomeration of global stakeholders. They foresee great potential in India. The whole world was looking at India.
ACFI felt the need to recognise the innovations happening in the industry. He was proud of the fact that the jury for the innovation award consisted of eminent personalities, a veritable who’s who. Forty-six nominations were received for the five categories. Some of the jury members are: CEO SpiceJet, a senior economic adviser, a leading freight forwarder from India, an airport CEO etc. They had come together because they wanted to recognise and reward the innovations in the country.
The event promises to be a mega event with an expected attendance of about 700 delegates with a plethora of critical issues being discussed and resolved.
