The third session of the first edition of “ChemConnect 2022”, Logistics and Supply Chain Event, organized by Indian Chemical News (ICN) on September 21, 2022 at The Lalit, Mumbai, will witness the leading industry experts analyzing the current status of the various green logistics initiatives in India and its way forward.

The discussion at the session titled "Green Logistics" seeks to highlight the bottlenecks in the green logistics implementation and the ways in which it can be accelerated further. One can register as a delegate by clicking on the link(https://www.indianchemicalnews.com/chem-connect/register ).

Topics to be covered at the event include Green Logistics: Indian Chemical Logistics viz International Market (Current trends); Understanding the challenges across various supply chain segments (Like for modes of transports: Roadways, Waterways, Railways and other Services: Transportation and distribution, storage and warehousing etc.); Understanding cost and benefits - Growth drivers of Green Logistics - Role of technology and digitisation; Road map of adoption or solutions; Challenges encountered by the industry - Regulatory reality and policy support; and Voluntary adoption of green logistics by Industry.

The prominent speakers from the industry at the session include Dr. Ghanshyam Singh, Head of Purchase & Supply Chain Management, Cosmo Films; Mahendra Shelke, Head - Logistics & Warehousing, LANXESS India; Vishal Sharma, Regional Supply Chain Manager - ISC, SEA & China, Indorama Ventures Oxides ANK; and Milind Gadre, General Manager, IG Petrochemicals Ltd. The session will be moderated by Anjani Prasad, Managing Director & Member of Global Leadership team India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Archroma.

The conference themed as ‘Creating a Robust Ecosystem’ has lined up the country's top industry captains for the most comprehensive dialogue on the various key topics. Cutting across a number of business sessions, the conference will help develop the most meaningful and business-enabling idea exchange that will seek to further government and industry's growth aspirations. The discussions will help curate a comprehensive review of the chemical logistics sector, understanding the challenges as well as the opportunity that the segment offers.

The objective of Green logistics is to strike a balance between environment and financial bottom line. The United Nation’s COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow was termed as a ‘fragile win’ for the world and the environment and demands for commitment made to be turned into action ‘without delay’ in order to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degree centigrade, viewed by scientists as the threshold for dangerous impacts of climate change.

Going green, and at the earliest, across every conceivable value chain of industrial production is, therefore, the need of the hour. There is strong correlation between resources, industries, logistics, and environment, therefore it demands harmonious synergy and coexistence between all these verticals keeping in mind financial objectives too. 

If we look at the modes of transport, chemical logistics, given the complexities of the products that could be from solid or liquid to gaseous or inert, not only makes it a very specialized task but also carbon intensive given its high dependence on roadways and waterways as well as challenges with other modes of transport like railways, especially in India. 

Green logistics also encompasses a variety of dimensions and initiatives; storage, inventory management, material handling, reverse logistics, and others. And there are opportunities in terms of cost reduction and quality improvements too.

The environmental regulations and sustainability targets along with economic considerations and environmentally conscious customers have largely resulted in logistics services providers to work towards environmentally friendly operations and strategies.

However, high dependence on fossil fuel, deficient transport infrastructure, infra lag in green logistics for chemical companies and logistics services providers, lack of technology adoption, among others, are some key challenges in greening the supply chain of chemical logistics. However, the sector also brings new opportunities.

The event is supported by platinum partner Netradyne, gold partners - Carbanio, Moglix, and DriveBuddy AI, regulatory knowledge partner - GPC, tech partner Ezbiz Technologies, and media partner Indian Pharma Post.