A long sought after demand of granting Industry status to the logistics sector has now been met by the state government. The new industrial policy has accorded industry status to the logistics and warehousing sector.
‘Our government recognises the need to facilitate a strong distribution support system through enhanced logistic infrastructure which is essential for industry to flourish’ said minister Mr Gudivada Amarnath unveiling the new industrial policy.
With the state government having a keen focus on the ports and allied sector and the intent of developing 4 new greenfield ports this move is bound to benefit the sector.
‘This will certainly give a fillip to the logistics sector as this move will bring the fragmented logistics sector into a more organized framework while also ease credit availability, securing better interest rates along with other benefits’ said Mr Sudhir Mulagada of AP Chambers.
Concurred Mr R Satish of VCCI and said ‘VCCI welcomes the industry status accorded to the logistics & warehousing sector. This will give a big boost to port connectivity in AP’.
Specific incentive packages have been designed for the logistics sector which include: A minimum of 5% of the area will be earmarked for development of logistic facilities in upcoming industrial parks/hubs, all clearance /approvals will be provided thru single desk portal, Logistic management services have also been identified as an area for support.
A logistics park for being eligible for incentives under this policy is defined as an area custom built for the sole purpose of conducting logistics operations which will provide holistic solutions for logistics-related needs with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure. These may include storage, packing, handling, distribution & processing.
Similarly a cold chain for being eligible for incentives is defined as a temperature-controlled supply chain with facilities comprising refrigerated storage and distribution facilities supported by equipment that can constantly maintain required low temperature range. The following criteria for minimum investments have been stipulated for logistic infrastructure projects to be eligible for incentive support under the policy: Logistic Parks, ICDs- Rs 50 crores, Warehouses- Rs 5 crores, Cold Chains- Rs 3 crores.
