CABT Logistics has hired 20,000 new riders to their dedicated workforce to ensure seamless logistics for India’s bustling e-commerce landscape during festivities. According to Redseer Strategy Consultants, the 2023 festive season sale has gotten off to a strong start, with a year-on-year (YoY) growth of approximately 16%. India’s online sales during festive months in 2023 are estimated to be worth about ₹90,000 crore, 18-20% higher than last year, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. These sales will be driven by about 140 million shoppers who are expected to be transacting online at least once during this festive month. To meet the surging demands of the festive season, CABT Logistics is employing a multifaceted strategy. As part of these efforts, the company is actively hiring gig workers and expanding its operational capacities while introducing an innovative delivery partner program. Through this program, they aim to bring onboard more than 20,000 gig workers, enhancing the company’s delivery capabilities.

Green mobility solutions provider GreenLine is planning a big-ticket expansion of its two-year-old logistics services operations, investing about ₹850 crore to add 1,000 liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks to its fleet in this financial year. It will further invest over ₹4,000 crore in FY25 to raise LNG truck deployment by any another 5,000 units, while also exploring options for deploying electric trucks on short-haul operations. The company, part of the Essar Group, aims to decarbonize heavy trucking in India and is receiving widespread interest for its LNG-powered freight transportation from industrial players and corporates who themselves are moving ahead on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) vision and looking at scaling up greener initiatives.

Safari Express Cargo has partnered with Cargo Flash Infotech to enhance its cargo management capabilities. Through this strategic collaboration, Safari Express Cargo Ltd. aims to avail the comprehensive Octogen’s package, a cutting-edge cargo management system designed to optimize operations and provide a seamless experience for its customers. As per the recent agreement, Cargo Flash will deliver the Octogen’s CMS broadly classified into the Reservation, Operation and alongside some significant add-ons. The Package includes Customer Management, Cargo booking & operation, Rating Management, Schedule Management, Capacity Management, Stock Management, EDI and Tracking. The recently introduced “Octogen” is a modular-based Cargo Management System catering to the entire Air Cargo domain, globally, especially the Airlines. Octogen allows the customer to choose from the list of modules that are required as per their business needs and pay only for the processes, which they pick for implementation. Through Octogen, Cargo Flash will allow Safari Express Cargo Ltd. to scale up its cargo sales & operation whilst enlarging its network furthermore. We are excited about our collaboration with Cargo Flash Infotech,” says Moses Nzomo, Account Manager Safari Express Cargo Ltd. By adopting the Octogen’s advanced tools and modules, we are committed to elevating our cargo management services to new heights. This partnership aligns with our vision of staying at the forefront of innovation and providing our customers with a seamless cargo experience.”

aircraft charter broker Air Charter Service (ACS) announced that it had made good progress on its plans to expand in Australia, having increased its team size by half this year. Moreover, ACS said, the company’s Sydney office is preparing for further growth by moving into a much larger space. Paul Crook, chief executive in ACS’s Sydney office, reported: “Last year was our best year in terms of charter numbers and our revenue was almost double that of the previous year. “This year has proved just as strong, being on course for similar results to last,” he continued. “Off the back of 2022 we have hugely expanded the team this year, to keep up with the demand in the region. This has, however, meant that we outgrew our old office. “This new office gives us the room to fulfil our growth plans for the foreseeable future and is ideally situated in King Street, in the central business district of Sydney.” Crook describes this as “an exciting time for ACS Australia, as we look to further our success and grow our teams here in Sydney and in our other office in Brisbane”.

Adani Group’s flagship Mundra Port has set another record by handling 16.1 million tonnes of cargo in October, the highest-ever volume by any port in India, the conglomerate said in a release. It is the largest port in the country with 102 MMT of cargo handled so far this year with a good 9 per cent year-on-year growth. The port crossed the 100 MMT mark in 210 days, surpassing the record of 231 days last year. Mundra witnessed double-digit growth on a YoY basis for containers and liquids and gas, the press release issued Sunday said. Further, it achieved another milestone of handling 4.2 million twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs) of containers in just 203 days, a feat achieved in 225 days in the previous financial year. It added new cargo types such as Hydrolysis Pi Gas (HPG) to its portfolio. So far in 2023, it docked over 2,480 ships and serviced over 11,500 rakes.

Lufthansa Cargo has launched a new high-speed service for cargo shipments called, td.Zoom. This service offers the carrier’s fastest transport times, with ramp supervision during aircraft loading and unloading, dedicated ramp transfer from the warehouse to the aircraft and vice versa as well as tail-to-tail transfer on demand at its hubs in Frankfurt, Zurich and Munich, says release. “The offer also includes 24/7 personal td.Zoom Customer Service, that proactively monitors and steers every shipment and takes immediate action to prevent irregularities,” the carrier added. The service is in addition to Lufthansa Cargo’s existing priority services td.Pro and td.Flash. Chief executive Ashwin Bhat said that a shipment from Shanghai via Frankfurt to Zurich usually takes 45 hours with td.Pro and 35 hours with td.Flash but this will be reduced to 23 hours with td.Zoom. “td.Zoom is the fastest choice with top priorities, the shortest transit times and a personal td.Zoom Customer Service,” he said. “Optimal customer service means creating the right offering for every need. With td.Pro, td.Flash and td.Zoom, we now have a comprehensive choice in terms of speed of transport, allowing our customers to choose a price-performance ratio that meets their individual needs.”

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL says, “We are actively engaged in seeking collaborations with cargo partners like CT operators, Airlines, freight forwarders & trade bodies to broaden our presence in both the domestic and int’l markets. These partnerships are aimed at expanding our network, providing more choices for our customers, and improving the efficiency of our cargo operations. He adds, “Regarding the expansion of freighters, we consistently evaluate market demand and remain open to supporting increased operations of freighters as required. Delhi Airport is the only airport in India, having 12 dedicated freighter parking bays which includes 3 simultaneous nose loading operations. We are handling ~15,000 freighter ATMs in a year which makes Delhi Airport the market leader in freighter operations across India. We added seven new freighter operators in the fiscal year FY’23. We are confident that this trajectory will continue in the future.

NSDC International, an enabler for global skilling solutions and We One, part of DP World, signed an agreement aimed at supporting the skill development and employment opportunities for the front-line workforce. The agreement was exchanged between Honourable Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship of India, Dharmendra Pradhan, and His Excellency, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World in the august presence of Sunjay Sudhir, the Ambassador of India to the UAE and Shri Satish Kumar Sivan, the Honourable Consul General of India to Dubai along with other officials. The signing event comes in continuation of a Memorandum of Understanding inked in May 2022 between NSDC International and Hindustan Ports (a DP World Company) to establish the Skill India International Centre in Varanasi, as a global centre of excellence for skills. In line with this, DP World collaborated with NSDCI to set up the Skill India International Centre at Varanasi which provides front-line workforce with services such as skill training, counselling, mobilisation, pre-departure orientation, foreign language training, placement and immigration and post-placement support. Speaking at the event, Honourable Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship of India, Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted that the agreement will create more avenues for global talent mobility, skilling and connecting Indian youth to relevant overseas employment opportunities. India is a reservoir of wide range of talent, he added. Shri Pradhan reaffirmed committed to fulfil aspirations of India’s youth and prepare them to drive economic prosperity, not only for India but also for global economies.

Bahrain-based investment firm Investcorp aims to increase its investments in India to as much as $5 billion over the next five years, from less than $1 billion today, as the investor looks to grow its private equity business and expand its real estate business in adjacent sectors such as logistics and warehousing and education infrastructure, said Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp. The investment firm, which entered India in 2018 through the acquisition of IDFC Alternatives’ private equity and real estate funds, has grown its assets under management (AUM) from $180 million to approximately $800 million in 2023. “In the last five years, we got to know India very well, the team has really formed well, so the foundation is solid. And now, because of what we are seeing in India, the growth of the economy, the transformation that has happened, we believe that we can set a target of $5 billion AUM in the medium term,” said Alardhi. He added that with the planned growth in India business, the Indian portfolio will become a bigger part of its global business, growing from around 2% of its $50 billion AUM today to 5%. As Investcorp looks to expand its presence in India, it is also looking at entering more asset classes and going beyond private equity and real estate.

Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) under the Ministry of Railways, GoI, is partnering with Japan-based “Innovation Thru Energy™” (ITE) to introduce groundbreaking IceBattery™ technology to the Indian market. CONCOR and ITE are jointly unveiling state-of-the-art temperature-controlled 20-feet & 40-feet (20FT/40FT) containers coupled with advanced DX (Digital) platforms, addressing critical issues in cold chain logistics, including environmental concerns, food wastage, the absence of a robust medical cold chain, and rising logistics costs. ITE, a leading manufacturer of green and sustainable cold chain solutions, offers cost-efficient supply chain solutions while reducing carbon emissions across train, sea, land, and air-cargo cold chains, as well as last-mile delivery. Key Features of 20F/40F IceBattery Container: Reduces energy consumption by 70~80%. Maintains temperatures between 2°C~10°C and 70~90% humidity without active power, extending perishable shelf life. While in operation 0% energy and 0% CO2 emission Save 70~0% CO2 emission, Carbon offset. Leverages the latest cold chain innovations to optimize resources, with a 12-hour charge providing 72 hours of temperature maintenance. Suitable for transporting perishable food items, non-food items, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other healthcare products.