“Encouraging trend”: Modi appreciates India gaining 16 places in World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that India’s “spectacular rise” of 16 places in the World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index will “make our businesses more competitive.”

“An encouraging trend, powered by our reforms and focus on improving logistics infrastructure. These gains will reduce costs and make our businesses more competitive,” the PM tweeted. He was responding to a tweet from Union Minister Piyush Goyal who had stated, “Spectacular Rise in Logistics Performance!”.

Goyal’s tweet included a picture that stated that India had risen 16 places in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index in eight years. In 2014, India was ranked 54th; by 2022, it will be ranked 38th.

Meanwhile, starting April 24, PM Modi will embark on a two-day tour covering over 5,000 kilometres in various parts of the country in 36 hours, during which he will attend eight programmes and visit seven different cities.

On April 24, the Prime Minister will depart from the national capital for Madhya Pradesh in central India. Following that, he will travel to Kerala in the south, then to the Union Territory in the west, before returning to Delhi, officials said on Saturday.

Detailing the itinerary of the Prime Minister’s long tour, the officials said, “PM will start the journey in the morning of April 24. He will travel from Delhi to Khajuraho, covering a distance of around 500 kilometres. From Khajuraho, he will travel to Rewa where he will participate in the National Panchayati Raj Day programme. After this, he will come back to Khajuraho, covering a distance of around 280 km in the to-and-fro journey. From Khajuraho, he will travel to Kochi, covering an aerial distance of about 1700 kilometres, to participate in the Yuvam Conclave.”

“Next morning, the PM will travel from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram, covering a distance of about 190 Km. Here, he will flag off Vande Bharat Express and also dedicate and lay the foundation stone of various projects. From here, he will travel to Silvassa via Surat, covering about 1570 kilometres. There, he will visit NAMO medical college and will dedicate and lay the foundation stone of various projects,” they added.

PM Modi will then travel to Daman for the inauguration of the Devka seafront, after which he will travel 110 kilometres to Surat.

“From Surat, he will travel back to Delhi, adding another 940 km to his travel schedule,” they said.

The Prime Minister will travel a staggering aerial distance of around 5,300 kilometres as part of his jam-packed schedule.

“To put this figure in perspective, one can look at the length of India from North to South, which is about 3200 kilometres. Adding to the distance is the time factor – all this travel is jam-packed in only 36 hours,” the officials said.