On the occasion of the decade-long celebrations of Make in India, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal yesterday launched the Logistics Data Bank (LDB) 2.0 and the Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS) 3.0 in New Delhi.

Goyal said LDB 2.0 will provide critical insights into the availability of facilities and infrastructure across the logistics ecosystem.

India yesterday launched the Logistics fa Data Bank (LDB) 2.0 and the Industrial Park Rating System (IPRS) 3.0.
LDB 2.0 will enable real-time tracking and assessment of logistics performance, supporting better planning, higher efficiency and cost reduction.
IPRS 3.0 aims at further strengthening India’s industrial ecosystem and enhance the competitiveness of industrial infrastructure.

The system will enable real-time tracking and assessment of logistics performance, supporting better planning, higher efficiency and cost reduction, according to a release from his ministry.

He said the initiative will serve as an important tool for both industry and government to strengthen competitiveness, improve supply chain management and make logistics in India more efficient and business-friendly.

Developed by NICDC Logistics Data Services (NLDSL), LDB 2.0 is a significantly enhanced logistics tracking platform that enables export container tracking on high seas along with multi-modal shipment visibility.

It also offers multi-modal visibility across road, rail, and sea using container, truck or trailer numbers, as well as railway FNRs (used to track consignments) through integration with the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).

A live container heat map provides location-based views of container distribution across the country, helping stakeholders and policymakers identify imbalances and respond proactively to potential bottlenecks.

Developed by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) with support from the Asian Development Bank, the IPRS 3.0 initiative aims at further strengthening India’s industrial ecosystem and enhance the competitiveness of industrial infrastructure.

Goyal said the government is developing 20 plug-and-play industrial parks and smart cities under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme  (NICDC), with four already completed, four under active construction and the remaining at various stages of bidding and tendering.

He said that the launch of IPRS 3.0 will help assess and benchmark facilities, infrastructure, and competitiveness of industrial parks across the country.

The initiative will provide stakeholders with reliable data, encourage best practices and support the creation of world-class infrastructure.

Building on the pilot phase in 2018 and IPRS 2.0 in 2021, the third edition introduces an expanded framework with new parameters, including sustainability, green infrastructure, logistics connectivity, digitalization, skill linkages and enhanced tenant feedback.

Under IPRS 3.0, industrial parks will be benchmarked and categorised as leaders, challengers and aspirers based on their performance across key indicators. This will provide investors with transparent and credible information, foster healthy competition among states and union territories, and guide policymakers in designing targeted interventions.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday promised to strengthen trade ties in the face of US tariff threats and pushed to keep the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA) alive in the lead-up to 2026 review talks.

Both met during Carney’s first visit to Mexico City as Canada’s Prime Minister.

“North America is the economic envy of the world, is the most competitive economic region of the world, and part of the reason for that is the cooperation between Canada and Mexico,” Carney said in a press conference following the meeting. “We complement the United States. We make them stronger. We are all stronger together,” he said.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday promised to strengthen trade ties amid US tariff threats and pushed to keep the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA) alive in the lead-up to 2026 review talks.
Both want to raise bilateral trade through USMCA through maritime routes, avoiding passage of goods through the US, Sheinbaum said.

Over three-fourths of Canada’s exports and more than four-fifths of Mexico’s are to the United States.

Carney said he expects “much greater amounts of trade, much greater amounts of investment” between Mexico and Canada, while Sheinbaum said the two countries had agreed to a plan that what would “bring a new era of further strengthening economic ties” between the two sides.

Both want to raise bilateral trade through the free trade agreement through maritime routes, avoiding passage of goods through the United States, Sheinbaum said.

Carney aims to improve ties with Mexico during his two-day visit. The two leaders promised new rounds of bilateral meetings in the next few months, and greater collaboration on security issues, agriculture, energy, finance, health and environment, according to media reports.

Sheinbaum said the countries are already setting up teams and reviewing the agreement with the hopes of keeping trilateral free trade in place.

“USMCA is a testament to if Mexico, Canada and the United States work together, we can create prosperity, face global challenges successfully and position ourselves as the most dynamic region in the world,” Sheinbaum added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

Italy’s consumer price index (NIC) rose 0.1 per cent in August 2025 from July and 1.6 per cent year-over-year (YoY), easing slightly from 1.7 per cent in July, according to the flash estimate by Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (Istat).

The slowdown in annual inflation was mainly driven by regulated energy products (+12.9 per cent vs +17.1 per cent in July), non-regulated energy (-6.3 per cent vs -5.2 per cent), communication services (+0.2 per cent vs +0.5 per cent), and processed food including alcohol (+2.7 per cent vs +2.8 per cent), Istat said in a press release.

Conversely, prices accelerated for unprocessed food (+5.6 per cent), recreation and personal care services (+3.0 per cent), and transport services (+3.5 per cent). Core inflation rose to 2.1 per cent from 2.0 per cent, while inflation excluding energy increased to 2.3 per cent from 2.2 per cent.

Italy’s consumer price index is estimated to have risen by 0.1 per cent in August 2025 from July and 1.6 per cent YoY, slightly down from 1.7 per cent.
The slowdown was driven by weaker energy, communication, and processed food prices, while unprocessed food, recreation, and transport accelerated.
Core inflation edged to 2.1 per cent.
The HICP fell 0.2 per cent monthly but rose 1.6 per cent annually.

On an annual basis, goods prices grew 0.6 per cent, slower than July’s 0.8 per cent, while services rose 2.7 per cent, widening the inflation gap to 2.1 percentage points.

Monthly price increases were led by transport services (+2.1 per cent), processed food (+0.5 per cent), and recreation services (+0.4 per cent), partly offset by declines in non-regulated energy (-2.1 per cent) and regulated energy (-0.3 per cent).

The harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) fell 0.2 per cent month-on-month (MoM), due to summer sales excluded from the NIC, but rose 1.6 per cent YoY, below the flash estimate of 1.7 per cent.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)