India’s ranking slipped to 46th in the 2012 World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, which measures logistics efficiency and is now recognized globally.
Five years ago, India was ranked 39.

The drop in ranking is a matter of concern for the country, which is expecting a lot of foreign investment across sectors that require an efficient logistics system.

A country’s ability to trade globally depends on its traders’ access to global freight and logistics networks. And the efficiency of a country’s supply chain (in cost, time and reliability) depends on specific features of its domestic economy (logistics performance).

Better overall logistics performance and trade facilitation are strongly associated with trade expansion, export diversification, attractiveness to foreign direct investment and economic growth, says the World Bank.

Based on a global survey of freight forwarders and express carriers, the Index is a benchmarking tool developed by the World Bank that measures performance along the logistics supply chain within a country.

Allowing for comparisons across 155 countries, the Index helps countries identify challenges and opportunities and improve their performance. The World Bank conducts the survey every two years.

India is emerging as one of the world’s leading consumer markets. It expects to sustain strong growth over the coming years and strives to become one of the top three economies in the world by the middle of the century.

The logistics sector plays a major role in supporting this cause and the connectivity and convenience in operations is key for sustaining global trade growth.

Read more in The Hindu.