Celebrating a journey of inspiration and perseverance

At BT MindRush, the flagship annual conference of one of India’s leading business publication Business Today, titans of India Inc. came together to discuss, deliberate, and explore ways to drive the nation’s economy ahead. For his three decades of experience as a logistics industry veteran, and global vision and perspective, Shashi Kiran Shetty, Founder and Chairman, Allcargo, received the Business Today Best CEO Award in the transport and logistics category. It was presented by Mr. Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel, Government of India.

Renowned for his sharp business acumen and astute capabilities of establishing market leadership in diverse logistics verticals as well as spearheading more than 10 successfully mergers and strategic acquisitions in the past decade, Mr. Shetty was recognized for his unmatched contribution to the logistics sector and exceptional leadership.

“Identifying opportunities that only few others saw, taking reasonable risks backed by analysis, and being mindful of the pitfalls, have played a key role. Today, as the logistics sector transforms even further, backed by digitalization, and policies and initiatives focused on growth, it fills me with immense excitement for what lies ahead. While I may have been the one accepting the award, it really belongs to all of you, including my family, business partners and associates, our teams across the world, and everyone that I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from”, Mr. Shetty shared, in a LinkedIn post where he reminisced his journey of setting up and leading India’s first logistics multinational with operations in 180 countries.

Transforming global logistics

This recognition is also testimony to Allcargo’s sustainable growth that has led it to being ranked as India’s foremost logistics company, and 65^th largest company in the country based on total revenue, in a recent listing published by Business Standard.

Guided by Mr. Shetty, Allcargo has implemented an organization-wide digital transformation and continues to transform global logistics with the power of tech. Be it streamlining a secure information flow between different entities or leveraging data science and analytics to optimize the network and take quick, yet informed and insightful decisions, the organization has been democratizing technology with its plethora of internal and customer-facing digital portals and applications.

Contribution to nation building

For India to grow into a global trade destination and hub and achieve its economic aspirations of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025, it is vital that the logistics sector contributes significantly to the GDP. For logistics players such as Allcargo and its group companies like Gati, which is a premier express distribution company, aligning with nationwide initiatives like the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan and National Logistics Policy, has been an almost-natural fit, owing to Mr. Shetty’s pride in the group’s homegrown origins.

A firm believer in India’s global prowess, Mr. Shetty has been a consistent proponent of focusing on green logistics and sustainable operations, as a differentiator to create competitive advantage in the global logistics space.

Inspiring India’s entrepreneurial ambitions

With a number of astute decisions, future-ready actions, and success milestones along the way, Mr. Shetty’s story has been one of patience, courage, and perseverance.

So, winning an accolade such as this one, not only cherishes his success, but also serves as an inspiration to many more entrepreneurs to keep going, and keep powering progress.