Category Archives: Warehousing

Wiz, a tech-enabled full-stack freight forwarding platform for the modern-day, has announced the start of a new business entity exclusively for handling bulk cargo. The business division, headquartered in Singapore, will cater to the niche market of dry bulk shipping. Wiz has also announced that Punit Oza has been appointed as the CEO of Wiz Bulk. He will start his new assignment on April 11, 2022. Punit is a veteran of dry bulk shipping and comes with over 29 years of rich experience in the industry. Over the years, he has held senior management positions in some leading shipping and trading companies. In his previous assignment, he spearheaded the digital transformation of Klaveness Dry Bulk before moving to the board of Klaveness Asia. We are extremely excited to announce Wiz Bulk, a new business entity of Wiz that will cater to the dry bulk cargo market, and we will utilise our tech expertise to improve the customer experience for this market,” said Ramkumar Govindarajan, CEO, Wiz. It was immediately clear that Punit was the right choice to lead Wiz Bulk. I am looking forward to working with him to develop Wiz Bulk as a leading name for dry bulk cargo movements.” Punit Oza said, “I am extremely excited to join the Wiz family and look forward to building a sustainable and customer-centric bulk shipping solution to provide greater transparency and value, leveraging technology to the maximum possible extent.” I am extremely impressed with what Wiz has achieved in the container freight solution space, and I hope that we can achieve the same success in the bulk freight solution space as well. Punit will work with Wiz founders Ramkumar Govindarajan and …

The spectacular growth exhibited by the retail, ecommerce, grocery firms and third-party logistics providers have spurred up the demand for last mile deliveries, forcing top warehousing developers to ramp up their expansions in the tier-II locations and within metros. Aiming to have a better reach to the consumer, operators and investors such as ESR, LOGOS, Blackstone-led Horizon Industrial Parks, and Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) are actively eyeing land acquisitions in smaller cities and vying for first mover advantage in setting up multilevel in-city logistics hubs. With focus on tier-II cities, ESR is currently in advanced discussions to acquire 3-4 land parcels. The company kicked off its urban logistics plan with the acquisition of 8.2 acres of land in Alipur, Delhi, to establish a distribution centre spread across 300,000 sq ft to cater to e-commerce, grocery, pharmacy, cloud kitchen, and other companies. “2021 was a mixed bag, with lot of leasing in e-commerce but slowdown in industrial. In the last six months light manufacturing and industrial sectors have revived. We are looking at significant expansion this year, incl-uding in tier-II markets, which have become important because of e-commerce penetration. Our strategy would be to build more plug-and-play (warehousing) facilities, which help customers to go live in three months,” said, Abhijit Malkani, chief executive officer (CEO), ESR India. Warehousing has been a sweet spot for the real estate industry during the pandemic largely because of the e-commerce boom. According to JLL India, the cumulative warehousing supply in the top 8 cities was 287 million sq ft in 2021-end and is expected to touch 500 million sq ft by 2025.

After two years of disruption, the logistics sector is riding on a growth wave as COVID-19 wanes, with the giant logistics provider DTDC leading this wave with a special focus on healthcare. The national player is taking the logistics game a notch higher and upgrading their infrastructure, launching several warehouses for positive growth and expansion. After the pandemic struck and several lockdowns, the demand for doorstep delivery of medicine and vaccines has soared. In order to meet this demand and facilitate people with speedy services that meet their life-saving medical requirements, DTDC is now on a mission to reach every large city and the remotest of villages in the country. Rolling this mission into action, DTDC has begun with the Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. They have opened a new warehouse with state-of-the-art facilities and high-end technology-enabled. Partnering with e-commerce giants, the logistics provider is all set to provide enhanced deliveries across categories across the urban and rural segments of the state. “To further enhance our services and streamline operations to serve our customers better, we are building major logistic hubs across the country to facilitate business growth and deliver value to customers across the length and breadth of the country,” says Subhasish Chakraborty, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of DTDC. “We are happy with the way the people of the country have supported us in the last 32 years. We started from Karnataka but are all over India today. With the trio element of service, support, and advanced infrastructure, we are sure to take care of everyone’s needs in the coming future. Moreover, we also run a foundation called SSCF (Shri Subhasish Chakraborty Foundation), where orphanages and the aged …

Taking advantage of the good momentum, Combi Lift is expanding its business into the Americas. “Houston is the perfect location in the USA. It is one of the main project capitals in the world,” explains explained Klaus Hilpert, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Combi Lift. “Solutions are becoming more complex and project risk profiles are increasing.Clients are looking for trusted and globally connected partners who can leverage their assets and drive risk-sharing throughout project delivery. For all of these reasons, opening the Houston office was therefore the logical next step for us.” The new branch is headed by Grant Wattman, President and Managing Director of Combi Lift Americas LLC. “Grant brings life-long industry experience in leadership roles, defining and implementing strategic plans, driving growth, operational excellence and building a strong financial portfolio”, said Klaus Hilpert. “I am extremely pleased that Grant is part of our team. He is a one of the industry heavyweights. Together, we will set new standards in the project logistics industry.” Grant Wattman is looking forward to the new challenge: “I am excited to be joining Combi Lift at a unique time for the global supply chain. Combi Lift provides subject matter expertise and assets, and is a member of the Harren & Partner Group, which also owns SAL Heavy Lift and Intermarine. The market is looking to those companies that will stand up and take a fresh approach to project cost, risk and predictability. The strength of the Combi Lift portfolio positions itself strongly for this new paradigm.” The new Combi Lift office is located in the Brookhollow Central III (2900 N Loop W, Suite 1100, Houston, TX 77092) which …

Coimbatore and nearby areas that are known for presence of manufacturing industries in various sectors will soon benefit from modern logistics facilities. The Central Government has identified Coimbatore as one of the two locations in the State for a multi-modal logistics park. The park is expected to meet the logistics needs of not only those involved in foreign trade but also for domestic cargo movement. An official of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said, “The park would come up on 100 to 120 acres in Coimbatore district. The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation would identify the land. Simultaneously, two private companies were preparing a detailed project report and the NHAI would develop the infrastructure. We hope that bids will be called in a year to develop the park.” The park will have warehouses and proximity and access for air, rail, and road cargo movement. The land will be identified taking into consideration several such factors, the official added. Raja M. Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters Association, said this was a much-needed infrastructure. The government should ensure that costs reduce for the exporters because of the facility. “Such infrastructure are meant to support a region’s trade. So the infrastructure should be created first and these will gain the trade’s patronage over a period of time,” he said.

In the last 4 months, Amazon India has fortified plans (announced last year) to expand warehousing operations by 40% and has leased a total of 2.5 million sq.ft. space, spread across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The US based e-com giant is also currently negotiating with Blackstone Group’s Horizon Industrial Parks to lease another half a million sq.ft. of warehousing space in Delhi and Alipore. Amazon has been signing deals with an aim to augment its warehouses across India, owing to the increasing e-com demand ever since the pandemic struck. Since late 2021, it has sealed 2 major deals with ESR for 6 lakh sq.ft. warehouse space at Bhiwandi and 1 million sq.ft. warehouse space at Shamshabad in South Hyderabad. It signed another major deal with LOGOS, for 1 million sq.ft. warehouse space at Devanahalli Industrial and Logistics Park. Amazon, with this expansion in warehousing capacity, will be spreading its wings over 15 states, supporting 8.5 million sellers throughout the country.

Robinsons Global Logistics Solutions (RGL), an asset-light third-party logistics and warehousing company, is on an accelerated growth trajectory. The company will be investing in excess of INR 20 Cr in 2022, and expanding its footprint across key metros, with a push in tier 2 and tier 3 towns across the country also. RGL will be adding more than 6 lakh Sq. ft warehousing space, and adopting a technology-driven approach to efficient and green operations. The company is also looking to increase their workforce by an additional 50%, inviting skilled talent that can be a part of the tech-driven vision. RGL’s expansion plans are driven by the management’s confidence in providing unmatched service delivery to existing and new customers whose demands are dynamic and evolving. The expansion plans for RGL involve setting up additional Grade A warehousing spaces of 6 Lakh sq. ft, across key locations of Bhiwandi, Kolkata, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. The expansion activities kick-started with long terms agreements of 90,000 and 30,000 sq. ft area in Bhiwandi and Kolkata respectively in January, followed by launching a 75,000 sq. ft. in Gurugram in February. The company will also be leasing warehousing space in key metros in the South, starting with an RGL designed build-to-suit warehouse of 30,000 sq. ft in Hyderabad in May, 100,000 sq. ft in Bengaluru and 70,000 sq. ft in Chennai, by August 2022. There will be another 3 warehouses that have been identified in Gurugram, Indore & Bhiwandi which will be added in November and December 2022.

The year 2021 saw leasing of about 22 million sq feet across warehousing and industrial facilities in the top 5 cities, steered by robust warehousing demand from the E-commerce segment and strong production growth. Demand for high-quality warehousing space was steered by 3PL (Third party logistics) players with a 33% share, followed by e-commerce companies with a share of 29% in total leasing. During the year, Delhi-NCR continues to lead industrial and warehousing demand with a share of 29%, followed by Pune and Mumbai at 21% and 20% each respectively. The majority of the space off-take was for warehouses, followed by industrial sheds. “Robust leasing momentum was witnessed in 2021 irrespective of the fact that the Covid-19 situation continues to evolve. Supply introduction in most markets is witnessing a strong revival in spite of material price escalation continuing to be a challenge. The Grade A absorption across key cities stood at 22 million sq ft with E-commerce and 3PL sectors once again dominating the space uptake. We are witnessing industrial demand pick up across cities such as Chennai, Pune and Delhi-NCR. We are also witnessing active leasing inquiries in emerging Tier II markets on account of the need for last mile delivery for customers.” said, Shyam Arumugam, Managing Director, Industrial and Logistics Services, Colliers India.

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) is strengthening its operations in Bangladesh, where it has served the country’s exporters connect to the global market for almost three decades. Bangladesh has been one of the most important sourcing markets for the garments and apparel industry worldwide. The garment manufacturers exporting to global markets have significantly contributed towards building the country’s economy. Despite the impressive growth of garments’ exports from Bangladesh, the number of warehouses in Chattogram have not increased since 2012 with the sole exception of ISATL that became operational in 2018. Optimizing utilization of available capacity assisted to an extent, however it did not scale enough to meet the trade’s requirements. The logistics ecosystem and the Chittagong Port get stretched, particularly during the peak seasons. In 2021, a fallout of this structural challenge was felt by all the stakeholders involved in import-export trade when the Container Freight Stations (CFS) got clogged with cargo resulting in delayed clearance, stuffing and consequently dispatch of containers to the port. Delay in offloading cargo also led to longer truck waiting time, and delay in despatch of containers to the port, consequently resulting in lack of overall productivity. These challenges have serious consequences on the overall economy of the country given the fact that the Chittagong Port handles in excess of 90% of the total containerized trade to and from Bangladesh. Recognizing these challenges, Maersk Bangladesh has partnered with ISATL to build a 200,000 sq. ft custom bonded warehouse. ISATL are pioneers in constructing and operating warehouses and CFS and operate four CFS within Chattogram and the River Terminal at Dhaka. Under the scope of this partnership, ISATL will construct a brand new custom bonded warehouse …

GreenBase, a joint venture between the realty major Hiranandani Group and US-based private equity firm Blackstone Group announced its plans to invest over INR 3,000 crores to develop industrial, logistics, and warehousing parks across key cities in India. The joint platform is looking to build and expand its portfolio by at least 15 million sq ft, taking it to more than 20 million sq ft in the next five years. The company is targeting a valuation of between Rs 5,500 crore and Rs 6,000 crore for its portfolio once the proposed expansion is completed. “The demand scenario for India’s logistics sector looks promising with rising consumerism and higher economic activity. We are optimistic about the growth in this segment, led by a conducive economic scenario, and our plans have been aligned to make the most of this rapid progress.” said N Shridhar, CEO of GreenBase. He adds, that the joint platform is also considering a plan to list the industrial and logistics portfolio through a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) in India or even overseas. GreenBase plans on financing the proposed investment through equity worth Rs 1,000 crore and the balance with leverage. The company’s current leverage level stands at around 25-30% of its existing capital.