About

• Anna Chakra is a Public Distribution System (PDS) supply chain optimization tool launched by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in India.
• It is developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi.
• The tool employs advanced algorithms to identify optimal routes for the transportation of food grains in the PDS logistics network to ensure seamless and efficient movement of food grains across supply chain nodes.

Features:

• Route Optimization: Uses advanced algorithms to identify the most efficient routes for transporting food grains, minimizing transportation time, fuel consumption, and costs.
• Integration with Railways and Logistics Platforms: Integrated with the Railways' Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) and the PM Gati Shakti platform, which maps geo-locations of Fair Price Shops (FPS) and warehouses to enable better logistics coordination.
• Wide Coverage: Optimizes routes covering 30 states, approximately 4.37 lakh Fair Price Shops, and about 6,700 warehouses.
• Environmental Benefits: By reducing transportation distances by 15-50%, it lowers transportation-related carbon emissions, contributing to sustainable development.
• Technology-Driven: Employs Operations Research and Artificial Intelligence techniques to automate and improve the supply chain decision-making process.
• Collaborative Development: Developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi.

Objectives:

• Enhance Efficiency: Speed up and make the movement of food grains more reliable and timely within the PDS network.
• Cost Savings: Save an estimated Rs. 250 crore annually by reducing logistics and transportation costs.
• Reduce Leakages: Improve transparency and reduce leakages in the supply chain by optimizing delivery routes.
• Support Food Security: Strengthen India’s food security program benefiting over 81 crore people under the National Food Security Act.
• Environmental Sustainability: Reduce the carbon footprint of the PDS logistics by minimizing fuel consumption and emission from transport vehicles.
• Modernize PDS: Using technology to modernize and reform the PDS system for better fund utilization and service delivery.

These features and objectives collectively aim to make the PDS supply chain more cost-effective, timely, transparent, and environmentally sustainable.

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