Our Managing Director, Mr. Mahendra Shah in talks with Cargo connect magazine on Government policies & their impact on Logistics sector & services & future plans of V-Trans (India) Ltd.

1. CARGOCONNECT - NOVEMBER 201894
INTERVIEW
1) How has the E-way bill been
contributing to make logistics
easier, cheaper and efficient?
The E-way bill is probably one of the
most important developments under
the GST implementation for the
logistics sector. Reduced checkpoints,
warehouseconsolidationandadaptionof
automatedtechnologyresultingfromthe
implementation of the E-way bill have
beensavingtransporterstimeandmoney.
The adoption of E-way bill has also led
to faster and smoother transportation
and movement of goods with reduction
of number of state border and check
points. The cost of transportation
for businessmen has also reduced
substantially.E-waybillhashelpedinthe
removal of bottlenecks in the inter-state
movement of goods. However, with the
mentioned advantages there are certain
areas where the scope of improvisation
still lies, such as issues pertaining to
part truck load service providers - goods
return, interchange of cargo and material
accommodation in two vehicles due to
bulky nature of material and so on. We
are confident seeing the government
working to address all these issues at
the earliest.
2) Union government has made
several amendments to provide
relief from E-way bill compliance
burden to courier, e-commerce
logistics and LTL operators.Are you
satisfied with the amendments or
you believe the bill require further
amendments?
As per the revised norms, in the case of
intra-state movement of goods, there
will be no need for E-way bill if the
individual consignment is valued at
less than `50,000, which means it has
largelyprovidedrelieftoe-commerceand
courier companies. The revised policy
has also extended the relaxation on the
requirement of updating vehicle details
for intra state movement to 50 kms from
10 kms.
Minor mistakes in E-way bill updation
like vehicle number etc. by the carrier are
treatedasclericalmistakeandpenaltyon
such shipment is waived off.
While these amendments provide some
relief to the LTL & e-commerce player
therearestillroutineissuesandproblems
E-WAY BILL
HAS LED TO
SMOOTHER
MOVEMENT
OF GOODS
E-WAY BILL
HAS LED TO
SMOOTHER
MOVEMENT
OF GOODS
“We are known for our ethics, reliability
and transparency in business, and by the
virtue of these characteristics, we have
earned a strong goodwill in the Logistics
industry in the past six decades,” says
Mahendra K Shah, Managing Director,
V-trans (India) Limited, in an interview
with Gaurav Dubey. He also talked
about the issues which the logistics
industry has been facing and its possible
remedies. Here are the excerpts!

2. NOVEMBER 2018 - CARGOCONNECT 95
that needs to be addressed, such as
return of undelivered goods, E-way
bill cancellation by clients even after
updating part B, and vice versa.
3) Do you think the recent strike
of transporters was the result
of a substantial gap between the
Government and mid & small-
scale logistics companies? How
could this gap be filled in order
to create a level playing field for
all the companies irrespective of
their size?
The logistics industry in India has a
fragmented nature. Mid and small-scale
companies through various associations
have been voicing out their issues to
the government. While some of it has
been addressed through GST and other
reforms,concernsstillremainonnational
uniformpricing,quarterlyrevisionoffuel
prices, and a toll barrier free India for
seamless movement of vehicles.
In order to strike a balance, the
government needs to understand the
issues being faced by the companies
and the industry as a whole and; while
making the plans/policies, a team of
officials should physically inspect and
look into the ground level issues and
bring it to the table for discussion.
Only then the government will be
able to formulate a policy which will
be beneficial for the country’s entire
logistics industry.
4) Experts anticipated that
post-GST; the demand for large
tractor-trailers and high-powered
commercialvehiclescouldincrease.
What are your views?
Post implementation of GST, the
logistics and transportation industry
has grown at an impressive rate. In the
presentscenario,fundamentalprinciples
of logistics - demand, supply, near-to-
customer, sourcing, and transportation
and inventory costs have become
the determining factors of logistics
planning.
This is expected to lead to a major shift/
consolidation in warehousing locations;
developmentoflogisticshubswhichwill
then cater to their local (spokes) cities
thus leading to tonnage growth of large
commercial vehicles (LCVs).
Earlier, none of the transporters under
GTA got tax benefit against purchase of
vehicles, now FCM transporters could
avail benefits of input credit which is
the biggest motivating factor. After
analyzing the operating costs of bigger
vehicles and the increase in revenue, one
will find that the equation is in favor of
the latter.
5) The Indian Express Logistics
Industry is expected to grow at a
CAGR of 17 per cent and reach INR
48,000 crore by 2023. In such a
growth scenario, what major trends
will shape the future of the industry?
Government is pushing this sector
hard, and granting of ‘Infrastructure
status’ to the logistics industry is itself a
testimony of that. The coming years will
help us in understanding the impact of
the measures taken by the government.
The major trends that would shape the
logistics industry are:
• IncreasedimpactofGovernmentspending
and regulations on the sector.
• Government’s initiative such as ‘Make in
India’ is boosting up the manufacturing
sector, and it is forecasted to generate
further growth of around 10 per cent.
• Boominge-commercesectorisdefinitelya
bigfactoringrowthofexpresscompanies,
we have already started our e-commerce
divisioninthexpressverticalofthegroup
– ‘V Xpress’ and it is doing very well.
• Consolidations and collaborations-
Larger companies will tie-up with local
and regional partners who have strong
networks and enable them to meet faster
delivery timelines.
• Technology adaptation- Stronger
technology systems like increasing
adoption of Robotics & Automation and
Smart Trucking are some of the emerging
trends. Automationininvoicegeneration,
quickuploadofbills,transparentrefueling,
transactions using fuel cards, etc. will
help provide transparency, efficiency and
reliability in operations.
6) V-Trans offer customised
solutions to its clients as per
their needs. Please tell us about
the solutions you offer, and the
ones that differ you from your
competitors?
Smart combination of services that we
provide under one roof makes us unique.
Our offerings are built to suit clients’
requirement in all areas - transport,
express movement or warehousing.
Various combinations of pick up &
delivery and billing options are meant to
cater effectively to the requirement of all
clients irrespective of their size, industry
and location.
We give full thrust on quality and
customer service and adoption of best
available technology. We are immune
to the industry type and volumes, which
means we serve across industries to any
volume and location. Moreover, our
extensive reach with more than 650
branches, presence of warehouses in
more than 20 major cities come handy
as clients today look for single window
solutions.
Notably, we are known for our ethics,
reliability and transparency in business,
and by the virtue of these characteristics
thegoodwillthatwehaveearnedoverthe
past six decades has been exemplary. CC
Our extensive reach with
more than 650 BRANCHES,
presence of warehouses
in more than 20 MAJOR
CITIES come handy as
clients today look for single
window solutions.