New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) The commerce ministry will work with its housing and urban affairs counterpart to focus on 50 cities for logistics planning, a move aimed at promoting ease of doing business in the country, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The decision was taken during the National Conference with States on Logistics on Tuesday to initiate a consultative and collaborative framework for the central and state governments to work in a coordinated manner in the logistic sector.

The commerce ministry said that an 18 point agenda was presented to the states to improve the logistics.

The key areas for logistics improvements in the states were identified as city logistics, simplification of approvals for warehouses, facilitation for warehousing development, reducing the burden on truck movement and addressing the shortage of truck drivers.

"It was decided that the Ministry of Commerce will work with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to focus on 50 cities for logistics planning initially. A plan for facilitation to reduce enforcement burden on truck drivers will be developed," the statement said.

State-level coordination committees on logistics will be formed, it added.

"The Logistics Division of the Ministry of Commerce will embark on a survey to assess and rank states on logistics performance. The states' ranking will focus on data in addition to perspective on logistics performance," the statement said. PTI RR

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