Category Archives: Warehousing

Focusing on the National Logistics Policy, which is aimed at promoting seamless movement of goods and enhancing the competitiveness of the industry, the Warehousing Association of India (WAI) organized its first ever conference in New Delhi on Friday, November 11, 2022, with the theme, ‘National Logistics Policy – The Road Ahead for Integrated, Best-in-Class Infrastructure Development.’ The event began with a welcome note by Manu Bhalla, President, WAI followed by the lamp lighting ceremony by the Chief Guest Som Parkash, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Government of India, and other Dignitaries namely, Suresh Kakani IAS, Managing Director of Maharashtra Industrial Township Ltd, Er. S. Bhardwaj, Dy. Director-General, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, Amit Kumar Singh, Managing Director (M&CP) Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), Bipin Sapra, Partner, Ernst n young, and Arif A. Siddiqui – Vice President WAI. The e-handbook on ‘Warehousing Standards’ by WAI was also released at the event. Devan Mitra Chenoy, on behalf of Chairperson – Policy Committee of WAI concluded the opening ceremony by presenting a report on the Ease of Doing Business in India.

ESR India has inked a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka government to invest ₹2,500 crore in the state. As a part of the MoU, the company will build industrial and logistics parks, urban distribution centres, and data centres in the state. Abhijit Malkani, CEO ESR India said, “Karnataka is a significant market for us due to its mature industrial ecosystem. We aim to bring world-class development expertise in industrial and logistics parks, urban distribution centres and data centres to enrich the state’s industrial, logistics and data infrastructure.” “The MoU will accelerate development and attract more investments from multinational and national companies. ESR has committed to a significant investment of Rs 2500 crores over a period of 3 years. Our vision is aligned with the government of Karnataka to champion industrial progress and socio-economic growth in the region,” Malkani added.

V-Xpress, a division of V-Trans (India) Ltd launched its new state-of-art hub in Ahmedabad. Built over one lakh sq. ft. area, the new hub will be creating about 80-100 direct employment and around 400-500 indirect employment. The facility is strategically located right on the National Highway-08 which is also known as Sarkhej-Bavla Highway, well connected to nearby cities. With this new hub, V Xpress now has over 65 branches and 4 Hub centers across the state of Gujarat, said an official release. Being in the industry for the past 20 years, today V-Xpress is one of the fastest-growing express cargo companies in India and currently growing at a pace of over 40% YoY. The company is catering to one of the largest gamut of industry segments with a strong and agile management team. The facility carries safety compliances in construction and fire. The warehouse is completely secured with CCTV monitoring covering all parts of the facility, both inside and outside. The facility includes multiple bays to load and unload shipments for easier and faster turnarounds. Commenting on this, Aditya Shah, Executive Director, V-Trans (India) Ltd & CEO, V-Xpress, said, “We are delighted to announce another state-of-art hub facility in Gujarat. Ahmedabad is considered as one of the key market areas in our growth journey. We are expanding our network and infrastructure across India, and the western region plays a significant part in our overall strategy. We further plan to strengthen our air business with focused strategic efforts enabling fast-paced growth. And our growth plans are well supported by a best-in-class network, advanced technology, and a committed team to serve the express logistics needs of the clients.” Mahendra Shah, Group Chairman, …

A.P. Moller – Maersk is all set to expand its warehousing footprint in Bangladesh with a brand new 100,000 sq. ft. facility being built in Chattogram. The upcoming facility is strategically located close to the Chattogram Port and easily connected to the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway through the Outer Ring Road and Karnaphuly Tunnel, giving easy access to Bangladesh’s garment exporters based out of the nearby manufacturing hubs. Bangladesh is witnessing impressive growth in garments exports. However, the warehousing footprint in Chattogram has not increased proportionally. “The pandemic presented us with the opportunity to have meaningful dialogues with our customers and look into the future. We realised that the demand for warehousing space was rising and decided to undertake measures that could address this requirement proactively,” said an official statement. Maersk Bangladesh has partnered with Vertex Off-Dock Logistics Services Limited to commission the new three-storied facility. The lift, conveyor belt and slider-operated warehouse will ensure higher productivity. Internal and external parking facilities will allow for a higher number of trucks and vans to be accommodated within the warehouse. While the current facility will be 1000,000 sq. ft., Maersk has access to more space in case of expansion in the future.

Movin Express, a joint venture between UPS and InterGlobe Enterprises, has announced the expansion of its Express end-of-day service to 19 new cities and towns, providing faster time in transit in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. This expansion takes the network of Movin’s Express end-of-day services to 47 cities, covering ~3000 pin codes, which caters to major commercial production and consumption hubs of India. This latest phase of expansion of operations, supported by tech-driven innovations, has spread MOVIN’s services in Metros as well as Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities to cater to customers’ demands in the ever-expanding B2B logistics space. The 19 new cities are Allahabad, Aurangabad, Bagdogra, Belgaum, Dehradun, Guwahati, Hubli, Jodhpur, Kolhapur, Madurai, Mysore, Nagpur, Rajahmundry, Rajkot, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Tirupati, Udaipur and Varanasi. The already existing 28 cities include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Baroda, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi-NCR, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Surat, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam. JB Singh, Director InterGlobe Enterprises and Board Member of Movin, said, “The decision to expand our presence into these cities was a logical step in our business growth strategy. It has been in line with our plan to tap into key locations that generate most of India’s B2B commerce volume. Our network in this phase of the expansion has added some of the most strategic markets in the country that will allow us to unlock businesses from sectors such as textiles, electronics, IT peripherals, automotive components, healthcare, and e-commerce. Our customers are gaining business value from our class-leading, competitive, and technology-driven express and standard premium services.”

Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) has signed a pact with the Karnataka government to set up warehousing facilities and logistics parks in the state at an investment of ₹2,000 crore. “WOLP intends to spend a total of INR 2,000 crores in Karnataka with the support of this association. The warehousing facilities and logistics parks will spread across 6.28 million sq. ft. and will be built over a 5 year period which will help generate more than 6,000 jobs,” the company said in a statement. Balkrishan Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group, said, “Our investment of INR 2,000 crores not only paves the way for Welspun One to expand into the growing warehousing and logistics market but also significantly demonstrates our ongoing dedication to the Indian economy. This industry is going through a major transformation as more emerging sectors and other businesses create increasing demand. This association will boost our fundamental goal of developing cutting-edge facilities of the greatest calibre and aid us in taking the next leap forward. We are really appreciative of the Karnataka government’s proactive support as we grow our operations.”

has signed an MoU to invest INR 3,000 crore in Karnataka to boost its warehousing and logistics sector. The MoU is signed for a period of seven years and promises to generate 14,000 new jobs in Karnataka. The announcement was made at the Invest Karnataka 2022 summit at the Bengaluru Palace grounds and was presided over by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. This investment by IndoSpace will help attract further investments in the state and help meet the increasing demands of industries linked with warehousing and logistics, said official release. Rajesh Jaggi, Vice Chairman – Real Estate, Everstone Group, said, “Karnataka has a vibrant and growing base in sectors like automobile, electronics, aerospace, agriculture, textiles and engineering. We want to help enrich these industries and provide them with world-class warehousing and logistics facilities. Our investment, which is the largest ever in Karnataka, will work towards enhancing the industrial infrastructure in the state. IndoSpace already has significant presence in the state, and we have enabled tenants from sectors such as electronic, automobile, e-commerce, fashion, supply chain and more to grow. At IndoSpace, we are committed to strengthening the Indian economy by meeting the country’s ever-rising demands around industrialisation and the supply chain ecosystem. We look forward to support from the Karnataka government and make a positive impact in the state.”

S A Mohan, Founder Director, Warehousing Association of India (WAI), CEO & Director at Armes Maini Storage Systems shared his views on National Logistics Policy and said, “NLP is the first step towards a unified approach to the logistics industry. There are several elements in logistics such as multi-modal transportation, warehousing & related infrastructure. NLP has specifically set out the agenda for Digitization, Unified Platform, all of which are directed towards a transparent system visible to stakeholders across all modes of transport and regulatory authorities. As the platforms go live, ease of doing business will be enabled resulting in improved efficiency and speed. Cost of logistics will drop over time when overall system begins to function seamlessly.” He added, “Modern Warehouse Infrastructure is another significant element for efficient logistics and growth of the economy. The release of E-Handbook for Warehouse in collaboration with Warehouse Association of India is the first step towards standardization of Warehouses. The handbook is a key resource for development of Modern Warehouses for developers and related stakeholders including end users.” “Along with development of Modern Warehouses, size and scale will be significant to drive improved efficiencies in operations and costs. Well designed, safe Storage Racking & Shelving Systems, efficient Material Handling Equipment, Conveyors, High Speed Sortation Systems, Cargo Lifts etc., will facilitate cost and operational efficiencies at scale for Warehouses. Modern Warehouses will allow deployment of Automated Material Handling solutions. Automation is available from entry level to sophisticated solutions depending on business needs,” he further noted. Summarising it, Mohan said, “NLP and E-Handbook for Warehouse is a good beginning to develop Logistics Infrastructure for India’s growth towards US$ 5 Trillion Economy and beyond.”

The government of Tripura has proposed the center for setting up one more multimodal logistics hub in the state to boost trade between Bangladesh and India. The proposal to establish such a facility at Udaipur in Gomati District has been sent to the central government, said official reports. Work is in full swing for establishing the states first multimodal logistics hub in the south Tripura Sabroom, where a special economic zone (SEZ), and integrated check post, and a food park will be set up for promoting trade and business with Bangladesh, reports added. In addition, the state government has already proposed the center for setting up another MMLP in Udaipur on the bank of Gomati river as the Sonamura-Daudkandi route has already been declared as the protocol route for island waterways,” sadded reports. Around 20 acres of land has already been identified for the proposed project while a process has been initiated to identify 30 acres more. Road, railways, waterways and air route will be constructed for the proposed project to facilitate trade, commerce and tourism.

AP Moller Maersk has opened its new warehouse in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. Located within the premises of the company’s Container Freight Station (CFS), the 100,000 sq. ft. the warehouse is the first of its kind, with women running and operating all the jobs and tasks in the facility. Hand-picked from the nearby villages, Maersk has hired, trained, and created jobs for 84 women who needed employment, but did not have the right opportunities. “At Maersk, we are constantly strengthening our efforts in the area of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). We also realize that in the larger DEI picture, gender diversity is a low-hanging fruit that can be addressed as long as there is a strong will to do so. While expanding our warehouses across the country, we wanted to create opportunities for women in a traditionally male-dominated sector. As per the 2021 census, Dadri has only 6% working women of its total population, and our team and our team on the ground had a strong desire to contribute towards a change in that respect, stated Vikash Agarwal, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia.