Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday unveiled the Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) 2023 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, here.

LEADS was conceived on the lines of the Logistics Performance Index of World Bank in 2018 and has evolved over time, and is positioned as a catalyst for streamlining logistics operations across different states, fostering efficiency, reducing bottlenecks, and propelling the sector to new heights.

Speaking on the occasion, Piyush Goyal said that LEADS is giving insights to States and UTs for further revolutionary reform in logistics sector, taking us towards our vision of Viksit Bharat. The report serves as a guide for stakeholders in the Logistics Sector by providing strategic insights, he added.

He hoped that it will play a pivotal role in instilling healthy competition among States/UTs to enhance logistics performance. It also underscores notable initiatives like planning infrastructure on PM GatiShakti, ‘industry’ status for logistics, multimodal connectivity, digital initiatives in logistics, City Logistics Plans, Multimodal Logistics Parks, etc, he said.

He added that States/UTs need to emphasise skill development, capacity building, and the formalization of logistics policies, implementation of monitoring frameworks, and the promotion of green logistics.

He said that logistics sector will be a cornerstone in our endeavour to take India to a 10 fold growth from a USD 3.5 trillion to USD 35 trillion by 2047.

The 5th edition of the LEADS annual exercise – LEADS 2023 report, provides insights into improvement of logistics performance at State/UT level. It highlights an enhanced overall stakeholder perception and impact of various reforms, across States and UTs.

This report, signalling a positive shift in States’ performance across the key pillars – Logistics Infrastructure, Logistics Services and Operating and Regulatory Environment, empowers the State/UT Governments by providing region specific insights for informed decision making and comprehensive growth.

It is based on a pan-India primary survey, conducted between May and July 2023, covering over 7,300 responses across 36 States/UTs. Additionally, over 750 stakeholder consultations, facilitated by National, Regional, and State Associations, significantly contributed to this comprehensive evaluation.

The report further gave the group-wise performance highlights of the states and UTs.

In the coastal group, the achievers were Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu; in landlocked group, the achievers were Haryana, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh; in North-East group, it was Assam, Sikkim, Tripura; while in UTs, Chandigarh, Delhi topped the list.