New Delhi: The logistics sector, covering cold chain and warehousing among others, has been given the infrastructure status by the government to attract more funds at competitive rates and give a boost to both domestic and external demand, leading to more employment.

Logistics players can now borrow at easier terms with enhanced limits and get larger amounts of external commercial borrowings. They can also access longer tenor funds from insurance companies and pension funds and will be eligible to borrow from India Infrastructure Financing Company Limited

Logistics costs of exports are very high in the country, making Indian goods less competitive globally. The definition of logistics includes industrial parks, warehouses, cold storages and transportation.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman, India and South East Asia, CBRE, said: "With India's growing economy, increased movement is expected in the industrial and warehousing segment.

"Both cold chain and warehousing facilities are covered in the announcement and will go a long way in strengthening infrastructure development."

"Coupled with the implementation of the goods and services tax, this will provide an impetus to the segment as a whole and will enhance competitiveness in the global market," he added.

As part of the changes in the classification, the department of economic affairs under the finance ministry has updated the "harmonised master list of infrastructure sub-sectors".

"Logistics infrastructure like cold chain and warehouses need significant investment towards improving competitiveness of manufacturing in India, more so post GST. Long-term investors are also very interested in the potential of this segment," Manish B. Agarwal, partner and leader, infrastructure, PwC India, said.

The need for an integrated logistics sector development has been felt for quite some as logistics cost in India is very high compared with developed countries.

According to a notification, logistics infrastructure includes "multimodal logistics park comprising inland container depot with a minimum investment of Rs 50 crore and minimum area of 10 acres".