OUR BUREAUNew Delhi, November 8

Gujarat has once again toppedthe Logistics Ease Across Diff�er-ent States (LEADS) 2021 index,brought out by the Commerce& Industry Ministry, with Hary-ana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu andMaharashtra occupying thesecond, third, fourth and fi�fthpositions, respectively.

The perception-based LEADSindex ranks States and UTs onthe effi�ciency of their logisticsecosystem.

The inputs given by theLEADS Report 2021 can lead theway to bring down logisticscost by 5 per cent over the next5 years, Commerce & IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal said re-leasing the report on Monday.

Focus on exportWhile the fi�rst version of thereport, LEADS 2018, focused onexport-import trade and as-sessed the effi�ciency of the lo-gistics ecosystem, the 2019 re-port covered bothinternational and domestictrade. The LEADS 2021 reporthas taken the eff�ort further byhelping identify problemareas in the sector and preparepolicy responses to deal with

them, according to the govern-ment. No ranking was releasedlast year due to the Covid-19pandemic.

Gujarat retained the topslot, amongst 21 States, on thelogistics index chart, an indic-ator of the effi�ciency of logist-ical services necessary for pro-moting exports and economicgrowth, the release pointedout. Gujarat has been the topperformer since 2018.

The LEADS 2021 report hasbeen prepared by a team ofTransport & Logistics profes-

sionals at EY LLP with inputsfrom Department of Logistics,Ministry of Commerce and In-dustry.

Among the northeasternStates and Himalayan UnionTerritories, Jammu Kashmirtopped the chart. AmongUnion Territories, Delhi gotthe top position.

“Some States haveleapfrogged in their rankings.Uttar Pradesh has movedahead seven places. That is re-fl�ective of the eff�orts that havebeen done in improving the

quality of infrastructurethere,” Goyal said.

“Department of Commercethrough LEADS will continu-ously engage with all Statesand UTs to support, facilitateand promote improvementsin the overall logistics ecosys-tem. Synergies fl�owing fromsuch a coordinated approachwill reduce logistics costs andwhich, in turn, will act as signi-fi�cant stimulants to PM GatiShakti National Master plan,”according to an offi�cialrelease.

Inputs given byLEADS 2021 reportcan help lowerlogistics cost by 5%over next fi�ve years,says Goyal

Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce & Industry, releasing the 3rd Logistics Ease Across Different States(LEADS) report, 2021,along with MOS Commerce & Industry Som Parkash, in New Delhi KAMAL NARANG

In the LEAD again: Gujarat topslogistics performance index