On Wednesday, the Centre launched the 'Secured Logistics Document Exchange' (SLDE) along with a calculator for Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions with the objective of improving the ease of doing business. 

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A release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry informed about the launch of this initiative by the central government. This digital venture by the central government is expected to improve logistics efficiency and reduce logistics cost. Furthermore, it is set to promote multi-modality and sustainability in a big way. 

It has to be noted that these digital initiatives have been launched to fill the gap areas where no action has yet been taken either by private players or any of the line ministries.

The Logistics Division with the mandate of 'Integrated Development of the Logistics Sector' has planned specific digital initiatives with a focus on integrating the various digital systems across ministries/ departments and filling gaps so identified. In this context, key digital initiatives including SLDE platform for digital exchange of logistics-related documents and a calculator for GHG emissions for choosing sustainable and right mode of transport for freight movement, have been developed.

The release from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry states, "The SLDE platform is a solution to replace the present manual process of generation, exchange and compliance of logistics documents with a digitized, secure and seamless document exchange system."

This process will help in the generation, storage and interchange of logistics-related documents digitally using Aadhaar and blockchain-based security protocols for data security and authentication. In addition to that, this initiative will also provide a complete audit trail of document transfer, faster execution of transaction, lower cost of shipping and overall carbon footprint, easy verification of authenticity of documents, lowered risk of fraud and others. 

The proof of concept of the platform has been developed and executed with banks (ICICI, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and HDFC Bank) and stakeholders including freight forwarders, exporters, importers and vessel operators.

Apart from the SLDE, the central government also launched a GHG emission calculator as well. The GHG Calculator is an efficient, user-friendly tool and provides for calculating and comparing GHG emissions across different modes. It allows for commodity-wise comparison of GHG emissions and total cost of transportation, including their environmental cost, between movement by road and rail. The tool is intended to facilitate appropriate modal choice for all.