BCBA to host ‘India Logistics Conclave 2026’ in Mumbai

 Building on the success of the inaugural 2024 edition, which drew more than 550 stakeholders from across government, trade and industry, this year’s Conclave will convene senior policymakers, port and customs leadership, trade economists and industry principals under the theme “One Fraternity, One Vision — Logistics Driving India Towards Viksit Bharat.”      The single-day gathering is designed as a coherent dialogue on the forces reshaping India’s trade-and-logistics ecosystem — from the long-horizon roadmap for Viksit Bharat 2047 to the immediate realities of digital customs, shifting geopolitics, infrastructure delivery, and the evolving role of the licensed intermediary. The programme reflects the BCBA’s conviction that the customs broker and freight forwarder are no longer back-office facilitators but front-line growth partners in the nation’s trade story.      Inaugural Session. The Conclave will open with an inaugural session bringing together the senior leadership of Indian Customs and the country’s ports ecosystem. The dais is expected to feature Shri Yogendra Garg, Member (Customs), CBIC; Shri Gaurav Dayal, IAS, Chairman, JNPA; Dr M Angamuthu, IAS, Chairman, Mumbai Port Authority; Shri Shyam Jagannathan, IAS, Director General of Shipping; Capt. Deepak Tiwari, Managing Director, MSC India and Chairman, CSLA; Capt. BVJK Sharma, CEO, Navi Mumbai International Airport; and Shri Niraj Ambani, Group President — Supply Chain, Reliance Industries, among other dignitaries. Shri Vivek Chaturvedi, Chairman, CBIC, is expected to address the gathering online. The session will also felicitate industry veterans for their distinguished contribution to the EXIM community.

Speaking ahead of the Conclave, Mr Sanjeev Harale, President, BCBA, said: “In a landscape marked by geopolitical shifts and supply-chain realignment, India has emerged as a balanced and credible voice. With logistics costs falling and policy maturing, the sector now sits at the heart of national development. The need of the hour is not merely to respond to change, but to shape it — and that is precisely what this Conclave seeks to do.”      Mr Dushyant Mulani, Immediate Past President, BCBA, under whose stewardship the inaugural edition of the India Logistics Conclave was held in 2024, added: “What began as an idea in 2024 has grown into a movement. This second edition reaffirms that the customs-broking fraternity is ready to sit at the high table of national logistics policy and contribute as an equal partner.”…The Association is especially encouraged by the participation of speakers and dignitaries from across India, together with key members of the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) from other cities — a reflection of the Conclave’s growing national stature.

Four Plenary Sessions. The day will be structured around four themed plenaries. The first, “India 2030, 2035, 2047 — A Roadmap for Viksit Bharat,” will frame the logistics agenda across three horizons of structural transformation. The second, “Building India’s Digital Spine — Customs & Trade,” will examine the move toward a unified national customs platform, 24-hour clearance and AI-driven risk management. The third, “Geopolitics and the New Geometry of Trade,” will address FTA utilisation, sea-lane risk and the China Plus One opportunity. The fourth, “Policy and Infrastructure — Building India’s Futuristic Logistics Ecosystem,” will turn to the policy architecture that converts hard infrastructure into a future-ready, interoperable logistics network.

The panels will draw an eminent cross-section of voices from policy, ports, industry and academia, including senior representatives of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, the Land Port Authority of India, leading economists and thinkers, technology providers powering the customs interface, and principals from across the shipping, terminals and freight-forwarding ecosystem. The discussions will be moderated by senior leaders of the customs-broking and freight-forwarding fraternity.      Valedictory. The Conclave will conclude with a valedictory session, “Custom Brokers and Freight Forwarders — Growth Partners,” featuring a concluding keynote address by Mr Dhimant Parekh, Founder, The Better India, alongside reflections from senior BCBA leadership on repositioning the profession as a recognised trade-facilitation partner within the CBIC, DGFT and PGA framework.      Founded in 1939, the Brihanmumbai Custom Brokers’ Association is the largest and oldest body of customs brokers in India, representing a fraternity that serves as the connective tissue of the nation’s EXIM trade…