Which of the following statements with regard to National Logistics Policy (NLP) is NOT correct?
- (a)NLP was launched in 2022
- (b)NLP would improve the competitiveness of Indian goods
- (c)NLP would enhance economic growth and increase employment opportunities
- (d)NLP would provide an opportunity for deleveraging balance sheets and providing fiscal space for investment in new infrastructure assets
Correct — D, NLP would provide an opportunity for deleveraging balance sheets and providing fiscal space for investment in new infrastructure assets. That sentence describes asset monetisation, not logistics policy. Unlocking value tied up in existing public assets so that balance sheets can be deleveraged and the proceeds recycled into new infrastructure is the stated rationale of the National Monetisation Pipeline announced in August 2021. The National Logistics Policy, released on 17 September 2022, is about moving goods more cheaply and predictably — cutting logistics cost, lifting India's Logistics Performance Index ranking into the top twenty-five by 2030 and building a data-driven support system, delivered through the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan and the Unified Logistics Interface Platform.
- (a)NLP was launched in 2022 — This is correct as printed. The National Logistics Policy was released on 17 September 2022, a year after the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan that it complements.
- (b)NLP would improve the competitiveness of Indian goods — This is correct. High logistics cost is a tax on every exported and domestically traded good, and reducing it is the policy's central promise for competitiveness.
- (c)NLP would enhance economic growth and increase employment opportunities — This is correct. Faster and cheaper freight movement is expected to support growth, and logistics is among the larger employers in the services economy.
Two distinct initiatives sit close together and are easily confused. PM GatiShakti, of October 2021, is a digital master plan that puts the infrastructure layers of different ministries on one geographic information platform so that projects are planned together. The National Logistics Policy, of September 2022, is the software half of the same effort — processes, digital systems, skills and regulation for moving goods. The National Monetisation Pipeline, of August 2021, is a separate financing exercise altogether, aimed at raising money from existing brownfield assets.
The item is a vocabulary test in disguise. Three options talk about goods, cost and jobs, which is what a logistics policy is for. The fourth talks about balance sheets and fiscal space, which is the language of public finance. Spotting that one option is written in a different register than the other three is enough, even for a candidate who cannot date the policy. The eight action areas of the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan are worth a look, since they run from digital integration and asset standardisation through to human resource development and State engagement.
- The National Logistics Policy was released on 17 September 2022.
- It targets a place among the top twenty-five countries in the Logistics Performance Index by 2030.
- It is delivered through the Comprehensive Logistics Action Plan and the Unified Logistics Interface Platform.
- PM GatiShakti, of October 2021, is the multimodal infrastructure planning platform the policy complements.
- Deleveraging balance sheets to fund new infrastructure is the rationale of the National Monetisation Pipeline of August 2021.
The option that fails belongs to the middle row, which is a financing exercise rather than a logistics one.
- Merging the National Logistics Policy with PM GatiShakti; they are complementary but separate.
- Attributing asset monetisation objectives to a logistics document.
- Dating the policy to 2021, which is when GatiShakti and the monetisation pipeline were announced.
A which-is-not-correct item where the wrong option is written in the vocabulary of a different policy, so it can be spotted by register alone.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The National Logistics Policy sets a target of placing India among the top twenty-five countries by 2030 in the
- (a)Ease of Doing Business ranking
- (b)Logistics Performance Index
- (c)Global Innovation Index
- (d)Global Competitiveness Index
Answer(b) Logistics Performance Index — the World Bank ranking of logistics efficiency.
- practice — not a real PYQ
PM GatiShakti National Master Plan was launched in
- (a)2019
- (b)2020
- (c)2021
- (d)2022
Answer(c) 2021 — announced in October 2021, a year before the National Logistics Policy.