AmCham’s Western Region and Supply Chain Committee hosted an event- SCL: With a special focus on GST, Skill’s Development & GST’s implications on Supply Chain and Infrastructure. The event, which was well attended by members of the committee and SCL leaders of member companies aimed to be an informative and interactive session. The afternoon began with Ms. Surabhi Wahal, Regional Director – Western Region, AmCham India welcoming the participants, followed by Mr. Nikhil Kush, South Asia Supply Chain Leader, E.I. Dupont India Pvt. Ltd and Chairperson of the Supply Chain & Logistics Committee, AmCham India giving the opening remarks to usher in the event. Mr. Nikhil briefly spoke about the mission of the SCL Committee to be a medium to address issues and challenges in the field and the committees plan to focus on Make in India this year.

Mr. Kumar Kandaswami, Senior Director and Mr. Prashant Deshpande, Indirect Tax Leader, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. gave a presentation on Fresh perspectives and a clear insight on GST. The presentation aimed to bring to light that the passing of the GST law will not only affect tax rates but it will have a much larger impact across various industries, thus urging SCL leader to strategise keeping in mind pricing, cash flow, change in working capital requirement of manufacturers and service providers, etc. Case studies for GST on automotive parts management and on consumer goods further highlighted the need for a redesigning of the supply chain structure to GST.

An interaction Q&A that followed raised questions of the viability of GST for a large country as India and the resultant competition on taxes among states. An insightful presentation on Skills Challenges in the Distribution sector was shared by Mr. Vivek Arya, Managing Director, Rhenus Logistics India P. Limited. While stating the importance of efficient logistic Services, he emphasized on the need to develop and invest in human capital. Through his presentation, growth drivers in the logistics sector such as the growing need for Integrated Logistics Services and Solutions, the emergence of the middle Class population and the huge geographical spread, proposed implementation of GST in 2016, etc were discussed. The skills gap in logistics sector such as- investments focussed on short term gains, the logistics sector not being very women friendly resulting in reduced access to talent, very few formal logistics focussed training institutes, among various others are factors that lead to a vicious cycle in most organisations. Mr. Arya further dwelled on the focus on continuous training and skill development, internship and training modules, infrastructure developments undertaken by Rhenus that has created an efficient working environment.

Mr. Abeer Garg, Senior General Manager, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. gave a presentation on Trends in the Industrial, Land and Logistics (ILS) Sector, Real Estate. The presentation began with an overview of the Indian Economy and the new infrastructure- smart cities, planned industrial corridors, NIMZ’s under the Make in India initiative. The presentation also focused on the impact on warehousing post the Union Budget 2015. Challenges such as poor warehousing, government apathy towards organized development in the warehousing sector, ambiguity over land acquisition laws, infrastructure challenges in key micro markets were discussed. Ms. Surabhi Wahal closed the event, acknowledging the interest and active participation of the participants. Mr. Nikhil Kush invited thoughts for topics that would be of interest for future forums. The feedback received was to discuss incentives, share a perspective on incentives in different states. Cross functional connections and dialogue among supply chain leaders from varied industries was suggested as a topic to be considered.

Mr. Kush shared the idea of inviting supply chain leaders from among the participants of the events to share their experiences and expertise at future SCL meetings / events, thus generating increased value that can be implemented in the supply chain and logistics sector.