On August 1, 2019, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) held its sixth Automotive Logistics Conclave. Themed as ‘Need for optimisation of resources’, its main purpose was to find solutions to optimise resources and fill the gaps to facilitate industry growth. Prem K Verma, Chairman, SIAM Logistics Group in the inaugural session said, ‘’Our vision is to facilitate need-based interactions for developing a better understanding of automotive logistics and their requirements.”
He further added, “The automotive industry wants to contribute over 12 per cent to India’s GDP as a part of our vision for the Automotive Mission Plan (2016-26).” He said that considering 96 per cent of transportation is done on roads, the government needs to promote multi-modal transportation to make it cost-competitive in the market. N Sivasailam, Special Secretary, Department of Logistics, Ministry of Commerce, Govt of India spoke about prioritising freight and the need of the system to track cargo shipments. He said that the inland port at Pandu can provide good opportunities for auto industry’s development and employment considering it has railway and road connectivity, and also a port facility. The second session was focused on optimising outbound logistics where Arun Malhotra, Ex MD, Nissan India highlighted that GST and the E-Way bill have brought immense changes in the system. Intermodal rail was also considered as a viable transport mode to manage a service-sensitive, lean inventory of auto-parts supply chain.
