India loses $65 bn annually due to poor logistics

A whopping $65 billion is lost every year on account of the inefficient supply-chain system in India and this despite the Indian retail sector being in the high-growth mode, a report said.

The industry is expected to touch $879 billion by 2018, but if the present challenges in its supply-chain system are not addressed, then the sector's growth could get hampered, it warned.

The report by apex industry body, CII, and Amarthi Consulting, titled 'Global competitiveness of retail supply chain-Challenges, Strategies and Recommendations' stated that, "since Independence only 20 per cent capacity has been added to the railway network but the traffic has increased ten times. In a sector where margins are wafer-thin, the supply- chain management is a critical enabler to profitabilty and this has to be improved."

The report released today also said supply-chain costs in India are about 12-13 per cent of the GDP as compared to 7-8 per cent in developed countries. Hence, the country loses out arouund $65 billion annually

How to make cheap ISD calls.......

Videocon Mobile Services on Tuesday announced that one paisa per second billing for ISD calls, making them at par with the local calls. While mobile service providers were following Tata-DoCoMo in 1 paisa per second tariff, latest entrant Videocon has pulled one over the rest in the tariff game.

The company introduced a one-paisa-per-second calling voucher for US and Canada priced at Rs 57 with 30 days validity. In another scheme, customers can make calls to Singapore and Malaysia for Rs 1.69 per minute; and to the US and Canada for 99 paisa / minute with a Rs 22 calling voucher.