The Finance Minister has made a number provisions for the port and logistics sector, including plans for 2,000-km coastal roads in the Union Budget but experts feel that more details about the GST roadmap and its impact on the sector should have been shared with the market.

Allcargo Logistics Ltd Executive Director and COO, Prakash Tulsiani said the Finance Minister has only mentioned about IT systems for GST rollout but the GST roadmap has not been spelled out. The budget has made provision for the sector but connections between GST and budgetary provisions have not been explained, he said.

GST implementation

Arif Patel, Vice-Chairman of Patel Roadways, said the budget provisions for logistics sector should have been synchronized with the implementation of GST. If the GST does not get implemented, it will have repercussions on the sector, he warned.

Tulsiani said the Budget has been focused on rural and agriculture development, which will spur the consumption in the country. This will bring new businesses to logistics companies. But better connectivity between the ports and various manufacturing facilities would be required once the GST gets implemented. Therefore, there should have been higher allocation for national highways.

Freight corridors

There should have been better clarity on Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project and the status on the feeder routes, which will service the DFC. The feeder routes are the existing railway routes, on which much work is required. Capital outlay also not been defined for this project, he said.

Patel said that provisions for port and coastal road connectivity has been made but till date the road leading to the JNPT port is congested. In spite of JNPT being one of the largest port in the country, the port still faces traffic bottlenecks. Therefore, the government has to walk the talk as far as infrastructure development is concerned.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW