ACFI Constitutes A New Board And Appoints Yashpal Sharma As Its New President

Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI) formulates a new board for a term of 2 consecutive years 2022-2024 at the Annual General Meeting held on 29th June 2022. Mr. Yashpal Sharma, MD - Skyways Group has been appointed as the President of ACFI for this period. Mr. Cyrus Katgara, the past President handed over the mantle to new board. Mr. Katgara will be part of the current board as Ex Officio. He will continue supporting ACFI to achieve its goals and help boost the Indian economy.

The “Air Cargo Forum India” - ACFI is an association of all key stakeholders of Air Cargo Logistics Supply Chain Industry consisting of Airlines, Airport Operators, Cargo Terminal Operators, Freight Forwarders, Customs Brokers, Express Industry, Bonded Truckers, etc. Its objective is to steer and promote the development of air cargo logistics industry in India and make it at par with the best Air Cargo ecosystems of the world. It is one of a kind and the only nationwide association that has representation in the Governing Board from all stakeholders of the industry. ACFI has been working very closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on its vision to achieve the goal of taking Indian air space to 10 million MT by 2030-31 from the current 3.1million MT.

During the 10th ACFI Annual Event held in May 2022, the Honourable Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr. Jyotiraditya M.Scindia himself stated that Air Cargo had started as an underdog during pandemic. However, it has now emerged as a game changer and has ably adopted to the changing environment. It is now time for the entire cargo community to push the pedals harder and ensure they succeed in achieving the vision 2030-31. He also appreciated the efforts of ACFI towards the growth of Indian Air Cargo industry.

The Governing Board for 2022-24 include some most prominent names of the industry:

Position Name, Designation and Company Name

President Yashpal Sharma, Managing Director, Skyways Group

Vice President Sanjiv Edward, Chief Commercial Officer Delhi International Airport Limited

Hon. Secretary Ramesh Mamidala, Chief Cargo Officer Adani Airport Holdings Limited

Hon. Treasurer Arun Kumar, Managing Director, InSynergy Supply Chain Solutions Private Limited

ExOfficio (Immediate Past President) Cyrus Katgara, Partner Jeena& Company

Board Members Abdulla Ali Al Khallafi, Cargo Manager – India & Nepal Emirates SkyCargo

Ajith Pai, Chief Operating Officer DelhiveryPrivate Limited

AvinashRazdan, Chief Executive Officer, Delhi Cargo Service CenterPrivate Limited

Kamesh Peri, Chief Executive Officer, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India Private Limited

KekuBomiGazder, Managing Director and CEO Aviapro Logistics Services Private Limited

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer Air India Limited

Satish Lakkaraju, Senior Vice President, Radar Ventures Pvt. Ltd. (Wiz Freight)

Saurabh Kumar, Chief Executive Officer GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo

Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Managing Director ATC Global Logistics Private Limited

Commenting on his prestigious new role Mr. Yashpal Sharma, the newly elected President said “I would like to thank my co-founding Members, Past Presidents, the ACFI secretariat and all board members of the past, for their invaluable and passionate contribution to ACFI and the air cargo community. It would be my utmost endeavour to work with the new board members and focus to achieve the Vision and Objectives of ACFI. While we have aligned ourselves to MoCA’s target of 10 MMT by 2030-31 but it would need a determined effort from all of us to galvanize process improvements, sync all stakeholders including Government agencies and set short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and more importantly execute them to perfection within the set timelines.”

Mr. Yashpal Sharma a well-known name in the logistics industry is the MD of Skyways Group which offers a wide spectrum of logistics & supply chain services including air freight, ocean freight, road transport and express services to name a few. Skyways Group is a leading freight forwarding company that is internationally known for being the No. 1 Indian Air Freight Forwarder for the past few years. Mr. Sharma is also the former President of Air Cargo Club Of Delhi (ACCD).

“There is a huge shift in people’s mindset in the logistics sector and they want to move towards ease of doing business. The industry will be strengthened by improved infrastructure and become more effective by adopting digitization and with our PM’s Gati Shakti the government of India is focusing immensely on the logistics and air cargo industry. Our aim is to position Air Cargo as the choicest mode of transportation in India and make it globally admired for its efficiency," said Mr. Sanjiv Edward, the newly elected ACFI Vice President.