Country with ‘most excitement’, FedEx CEO Subramaniam on India cracking the growth code
logistics are intertwined and go hand in hand, Raj Subramaniam, Chief Executive Officer, FedEx Corporation, said that their potential needs to be tapped. “I have travelled the world and can assure you that this is the place which has got the most excitement. While we double or triple manufacturing, there is an opportunity to reduce the cost of logistics as a percentage of GDP in India, maybe even halve it.
There is a good opportunity to do that,” he said, while addressing a session at the B20 Summit organised by the CII in the capital.
The FedEx CEO said India puts out about 2.8% of global manufacturing. “Who here will doubt that we can double that, triple that. What is the limit? There is a significant opportunity to increase the percentage of global manufacturing in India.
And I think this is a moment of opportunity here.” he said.
Observing how tariffs are a very sensitive subject, he said that reducing non-tariff barriers, making it streamlined and easy so that the goods can flow across borders in a smooth way at a cost that is as low as possible should be deliberated more.
Drawing a parallel with the situation during the Covid outbreak, he highlighted how things had moved very quickly in that period. “In April 2021, when it was the height of the pandemic here, we were moving a lot of medical equipment, especially oxygen concentrators, to India. At that point, a plane used to land within 45 minutes.
