Category Archives: Warehousing

Varuna Group is all set to launch its second largest Multi-User Facility (MUF) warehouse in Rudrapur, slated for early 2024. Spread over 3,40,000 square feet, the warehouse will be their second built-to-suite MUF, taking their total footprint to 1.71 million sq.ft. in India. Located in Bara Village of Kichha tehsil, Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttarakhand, India. The warehouse is a state of the art Multi User Facility well connected with the industrial hubs of Sitarganj & Pant Nagar. The Grade A Warehouse will provide seamless and centralised access to multifaceted storage solutions. This milestone signifies Varuna’s unwavering commitment to meeting the evolving demands of its customers while fostering growth and prosperity in the region. It is positioned on the highway to cater for seamless connectivity for its industrial partners. Being in close proximity to key industrial areas of Sitarganj & Pant Nagar, which cater to large scale industrial activity in sectors linked to auto parts, food processing & capital goods, make it an ideal choice for businesses seeking efficient supply chain management and warehousing solutions.

According to Alvarez & Marsal’s ‘Building Warehousing Competitiveness: Automation And Beyond’ report, around 80 per cent of warehouses in India will adopt digital enablement and automation by 2030. The report also emphasizes on the importance of creating a balance between manpower and machine labour in Indian warehousing, for a successful journey towards automation. Manish Saigal, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal, said, “In India, Grade A warehouses are expected to expand at a CAGR of 12.5 per cent culminating in approximately 324 million square feet by FY28. This robust growth is poised to drive a surge in automation within the warehousing sector.”

Air India has commissioned a mega warehouse facility at Delhi to facilitate storage of over 1,000,000 engineering spares that are integral to maintenance, checks and repairs of its aircraft and ground support equipment, says official reports. This will further enhance Air India’s fleet and operational efficiency and strengthen India’s expanding aviation ecosystem. The first-of-its-kind facility for any airline in India, the integrated warehouse will serve as the cornerstone of Air India’s engineering function, offering a one-stop solution for storing aircraft spares, tools and ground support equipment ranging from hardware to sophisticated and complex avionics, hydraulics, structural, pneumatic, and mechanical components. Located in proximity of Terminal 3, at the Cargo complex of Delhi Airport’s Air Cargo Logistics division, the centralized warehouse sprawling 54,000 sq. ft. (approx.), will significantly improve quick turnaround of the airline’s flights operating out of Delhi, adds reports.

Hindalco Industries Limited, the metals flagship of Aditya Birla Group and an industry leader in aluminium and copper, recently opened its warehouse at Logistics Park India Private Limited, Nagpur. Hindalco’s service partner is Logistics Park India Private Limited, a leading third-party logistics service provider in India that offers integrated warehousing and logistics solutions. Present at the opening ceremony on behalf of Hindalco were Jagdish Mohan, Vice President – Packaging, Harish Talreja – Unit Head of Mouda Plant, Indranil Roychowdhury, Amol Thakre and Sumit Sharma. Dr Viren Thakkar, CMD of Logistics Park India Private Limited was also present. Started in 1993, Logistics Park India Private Limited has become the leading third-party service provider in Central India. With more than 275 awards and accolades, the company has set milestones of quality services. Logistics Park has been serving more than 50 national and multinational companies in FMCG, pharmaceuticals, industrial, FMCD and automotive sectors. With 2.35 million square feet of operational warehouses, Logistics Park India Private Limited enjoys the number one position in the region.

Bengaluru saw the highest rise in warehouse rents among Indian cities, with an annual average jump of 7.5 percent, overtaking Delhi-NCR and Mumbai in the top 10 Asia-Pacific (APAC) warehousing markets in H1 2023, a report by Knight Frank India has said. The Asia-Pacific Logistics Highlight H1 2023 report said that the rental growth was up 10.4 percent from the same period of the previous year. While rent in Bengaluru, ranked sixth in the APAC list, rose to Rs 21.5 per sq ft a month, Delhi-NCR, which is positioned eighth, reported a 6.6 percent jump from the previous year at Rs 20.20 per sq ft per month. Manila tops the list with a 49.3 percent year-on-year (YoY) jum in rent followed by Sydney and Brisbane at 38.6 percent and 23.8 percent, respectively. Bangkok ranked last with rentals dropping 0.2 percent.

Crown Worldwide Group has inaugurated the Crown Records Management Vault and Fine Art Vault Storage Facility in Mumbai. The facility provides cutting-edge technology with thoughtful design, resulting in enhanced security and storage solutions. This remarkable 4-storey structure spans 27,616 sq. ft., housing dedicated zones for fine art and vital records, including sorting areas, secure destruction zones, and a fine art gallery. The introduction of this facility represents a significant expansion of Crown Records Management’s service offerings in Mumbai and its surrounding areas, creating new employment opportunities within the region. Crown’s 27-year presence in India has flourished across 13 locations, including New Delhi, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, and Kolkata. This new facility deepens Crown’s engagement with industries where effective business information management and art preservation are paramount.

At the recently held ANUTECH 2023, at Mumbai on 7th September, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Association of India emphasized the need for technology based infrastructure to operate cold chain services across the country. Panelists mentioned how starting from warehousing, to transportation, and distribution, automation of techniques should be prioritised and implemented in the industry to harness the immense potential of the cold chain industry in India. Dr. Nirav Thakker, Executive Committee Member, FFFAI, was also Moderator of the session, and emphasised India’s prospect of 14.37 per cent CAGR in the next five years. Other panelists who participated in the event were Mr. P.A. Bamane, Assistant Manager APEDA; Dr. Karuna Dhale, Assistant Director (Tech), FSSAI, and Ms. Chaitaly Mehta, Director, EKF Logistics. FFAI Chairman, Mr. Shankar Shinde, also spoke at the event, and mentioned that FFFAI is working in close cooperation with the government, using contemporary technology solutions for the cold chain system in the country to have world-class efficiency. As the world’s leading information and procurement platform, ANUTECH combines all such technological solutions along the entire value chain, that includes all sectors of the food and beverage industry, and this international event offered all cross-process future technologies for the same.

D P World has launched its state-of-the-art 3,80,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Bhiwandi, in Maharashtra’s Thane district. The facility is fully compliant for the storage and handling of chemicals along with non-chemicals and has commenced operations effective September 1, 2023. This new facility elevates DP World’s warehousing capability to 5+ million sq. ft. of warehousing space PAN India. A partition divides the entire warehouse into two sections. One spans 1,90,000 sq. ft. and is specially designed for hazardous chemical storage, complete with heavy-duty G+8 level racking and state-of-the-art very early smoke detection apparatus (VESDA). This adaptable section offers an impressive capacity of 20,000 pallet positions for the normal temperature zone, along with an additional 1,000 pallet positions for the 20 to 25-degree temperature-controlled area, which can be further expanded when needed. The second section covers 1,50,000 sq. ft. and is dedicated to non-chemical storage. Additionally, the warehouse includes a 40,000 sq. ft. separate area featuring two distinct cold storage rooms. The new facility provides comprehensive safety features throughout the premises. This also includes a Chill temperature-controlled area, maintained at 20° to 25°C, for Pharma, Food Reagents, etc. Additionally, there are fireproof partitions, a dedicated firewater system, a spill containment pit, and Rockwool insulation on the roof. To enhance air quality and promote employee well-being, the facility utilizes High-Volume Low-Speed Fans (HVLS) for efficient air circulation. Furthermore, as a sustainability initiative, the facility is equipped with a solar system. The facility’s two-sided Docking system reduces the picking path whereas a Safety Lifeline system ensures driver safety while removing tarpaulin from trucks. The facility also features an extended canopy area of over 5 meters, ensuring smooth loading and unloading of vehicles across …

Prozo has opened its cold storage facility at Krishnapatnam, Tamil Nadu. It is strategically located near major seafood hubs in the East Coast region of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The increased demand for tech-driven seafood cold storage facilities comes with the growth of the food and allied businesses. Prozo’s new facility is located at Krishnapatnam, ~25 kms from nearest Highway NH16. It is 30 km from Nellore, 115 km from Sri City, 170 kms from Chennai, and 700 km from Vizag. The cold-storage facility spans over 30,000 sq. ft. with a clear height of 39.8 ft and is compliant with all safety and security norms. Designed for seafood, the facility maintains temperatures at minus 20 degrees Celsius. It has 10 chambers, each with a storage capability of 280 pallets in G+4 heavy duty racking. Prozo focuses on leveraging technology and best in class operations capability to provide end-to-end, integrated supply chain solutions. The company oversees supply chains for 100+ enterprises, including leading ecommerce players. The fulfillment network spans 30 centers across 12 Indian locations, covering 1.5 million sq. ft.

Welspun One is set to redefine urban last-mile delivery with the introduction of its Grade-A, in-city warehousing anchored mixed-use development in Thane (MMR). This marks the first deployment of Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund 2, a category II AIF vehicle which has secured commitments of INR 1500 Cr. out of a target raise of INR 2000 Cr. to date. The in-city facility is expected to bridge the gap between escalating demand from the booming e-commerce, quick commerce and rapid-delivery-services sectors and the availability of good quality logistics infrastructure located in close proximity to existing and upcoming residential and commercial hubs. Not only is there a dearth of existing options, but existing options are also typically unorganized, make-shift, inefficient and often non-compliant. There is a significant demand for purpose-built facilities which enable high throughput, efficient operations, and are also in compliance with building code and safety norms. As per research estimates, the in-city warehousing demand pan-India is expected to exceed 90 million square feet over the next 4-5 years.