Logistics sector gets Infrastructure status

In a move to help the logistics industry raise funds at competitive rates and to boost India’s trade, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) widened the category of infrastructure sub-sectors to “transport and logistics” from the earlier sub-head of “transport“. The inclusion of “Logistics Sector” in the harmonized master list of infrastructure sub-sectors was considered in the 14th Institutional Mechanism meeting held on 10 November 2017.

The term “Logistics Infrastructure” would mean and include multi-modal logistics park comprising inland container depot with minimum investment of INR 500,000,000 (Rupees five hundred million) and minimum area of 435,600 (four hundred thirty five thousand and six hundred) square feet; cold chain facility with minimum investment of INR 150,000,000 (Rupees one hundred and fifty million) and minimum area of 20,000 (twenty thousand) square feet; and/ or warehousing facility with investment of minimum INR 250,000,000 (Rupees two hundred and fifty million) and minimum area of 100,000 (one hundred thousand) square feet.

This step would, inter alia, enable the logistics sector to avail infrastructure lending at easier terms with enhanced limits, access to larger amounts of funds as external commercial borrowings, access to longer tenor funds from insurance companies and pension funds and be eligible to borrow from India Infrastructure Financing Company Limited.

The MoF press release in relation to the captioned subject matter can be accessed at:

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=173674