In a world increasingly shaped by geopolitical realignments, climate-linked disruptions, and regulatory scrutiny, India’s airfreight sector is confronting a strategic imperative: transforming compliance and risk resilience from operational obligations into competitive advantages.
India’s aspiration to become a global cargo hub faces mounting external and internal challenges. According to IATA, the country handled approximately 3.3 million tonnes of airfreight in 2023 and is projected to exceed 6 million tonnes by 2030. However, this growth in throughput must be matched by a proportional upgrade in resilience frameworks, digitised compliance infrastructure, and crisis-readiness protocols—or risk becoming a volume giant with fragile underpinnings.
“India’s cargo growth will be unsustainable unless compliance, risk, and resilience are hardwired into its operational DNA,” Yashpal Sharma, CMD of Skyways Group, asserted.
From Reactive Risk to Predictive Governance
A central theme was the shift from reactive risk response to predictive, intelligence-led compliance frameworks. Balasubramanian P., Founder and CEO of Air Cargo Consultancy International Services (ACCIS), highlighted the limitations of traditional, siloed risk management practices.
“Much of the industry still deals with risk post-incident. This has to change. Predictive analytics, real-time cargo visibility, and interoperable digital systems must form the foundation of India’s next-gen compliance model,” he said.
Globally, regulatory non-compliance and documentation discrepancies are responsible for an estimated 12 percent of cargo delays, according to IATA. In India, anecdotal evidence suggests this figure could be even higher, particularly in fragmented cargo clusters across tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where infrastructure and standardisation lag behind.
To address this, Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur, Head of Global Freight and Projects at Apollo Tyres, proposed a national digital risk register integrated into India’s cargo community systems.
“A digital cargo risk index—linked to documentation trails, operator history, and real-time routing data—could revolutionise how we manage compliance and operational vulnerabilities. This isn’t futuristic—it’s overdue,” he said.
Infrastructure as a compliance catalyst
The conversation turned to infrastructure—specifically the role of new greenfield airports in setting compliance benchmarks. Kiran Jain, COO of Noida International Airport, noted that these developments present a unique opportunity to embed resilience mechanisms by design rather than through retrofitting.
“Noida International Airport will be among the first in India to include cargo resilience audits as part of its key performance indicators,” Jain stated. “Compliance doesn’t begin at the customs gate—it begins at the apron.”
Her comment reflects a broader shift in India’s aviation infrastructure policy—from throughput-focused design to risk-integrated master planning. Although the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s National Air Cargo Policy Outline 2019 proposed integrated logistics zones and end-to-end digitisation, implementation remains partial. As of 2024, fewer than 10 percent of Indian airfreight movements occur through fully digitised corridors.
This underutilisation has serious consequences. Delays, misrouted cargo, and customs bottlenecks can compromise India’s reliability in global supply chains. Jain’s emphasis on design-level compliance is therefore both timely and strategic.
The global compliance equation
Adding an international trade perspective, Giridharan Srinivasan, Area General Manager – Commercial, Indian Subcontinent at Etihad Cargo, argued that compliance is no longer a domestic concern—it is an exportable brand identity.
“A single failure in Mumbai or Delhi can trigger mistrust in Frankfurt or Abu Dhabi. Our international partners expect us to be ESG-aligned, compliant, and resilient—not just efficient,” he said.
As global trade corridors grow more ESG-focused, non-compliance is viewed not only as a legal risk but a reputational liability. Srinivasan urged Indian logistics providers to see compliance as a branding asset, pointing out that clients—particularly in pharmaceuticals, perishables, and e-commerce—are increasingly factoring in regulatory risk scores when awarding contracts.
Financing risk: The insurance paradigm
The discussion then turned to financial risk management. Faiz Ahmad of ICICI Lombard explained how regulatory compliance and resilience are beginning to directly influence cargo insurance premiums.
“We’re entering a regime where clients with low-risk scores, robust documentation, and digitally visible cargo chains benefit from reduced premiums. Those who don’t comply pay a financial penalty,” Ahmad said.
ICICI Lombard is reportedly exploring parametric insurance models, in which payouts are automatically triggered by pre-set conditions—such as cargo temperature breaches or customs delays—monitored via IoT sensors and blockchain.
These models, already gaining traction in Europe and Southeast Asia, hint at how compliance will become a financial differentiator. The connection between insurance and real-time compliance scoring may encourage more Indian cargo operators to adopt proactive resilience strategies.
Policy levers: From ideation to mandates
While several individual operators are investing in risk preparedness, the panel also called for broader policy-level action. Key proposals included:
National Compliance Registry – A unified platform rating cargo operators on compliance history, risk events, and recovery readiness.
Mandatory Risk Framework Submissions – Annual reports by freight forwarders and ground handlers detailing risk preparedness, supported by third-party audits.
Integrated Crisis Protocols – A pan-India framework for ensuring cargo continuity in the event of cyberattacks, geopolitical tensions, or natural disasters.
Implementing these initiatives would require coordination among the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), insurance regulators, and private stakeholders. ACFI members suggested that pilot projects at key international airports could pave the way for national rollout.
The strategic imperative of resilience
India’s airfreight sector—projected to grow by 8–10 percent annually through 2030—cannot depend on capacity expansion alone. Its long-term competitiveness will hinge on building a cargo ecosystem that is as resilient as it is efficient.
“Resilience isn’t about reacting to black swan events. It’s about engineering our systems to absorb shocks without disrupting trade,” Sharma remarked in his closing comments.
Indeed, the world’s leading airfreight hubs—Amsterdam, Singapore, Incheon—have invested equally in throughput and risk governance. If India aligns its roadmap effectively, it has the opportunity not only to match those benchmarks, but to shape a new resilience-driven model for emerging economies.
Conclusion
With airfreight volumes expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8–10 percent through 2030, risk preparedness must not fall behind. IATA estimates that India will handle more than 6 million tonnes of airfreight annually by 2030, up from 3.3 million tonnes in 2023.
As Sharma aptly concluded:
“Throughput is only part of the picture. The real currency of a future-ready cargo ecosystem is trust—trust in its compliance, trust in its data, and trust in its ability to endure.”
In a volatile global environment, India’s cargo sector is taking decisive steps to make resilience not just a support function—but the foundation of its next phase of growth.
