Category Archives: Warehousing

The warehousing sector’s meteoric rise to prominence in India was spurred by the introduction of GST leading to consolidation and the central government’s decision to grant ‘infrastructure status’ to the logistics sector including warehousing. Furthermore, with 100% FDI permitted in warehousing and logistics alongside maturated state-level warehousing policies, the sector has been seeing rapid institutionalization and subsequent inflow of major investments. The investments grew from USD 675 million during 2014-2016 to USD 2.3 billion from FY 2017-2019 in the top 8 cities of India. In 2020, the pandemic reinforced a structural shift in consumer preferences – accelerating the penetration of online sales even in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, thus giving a huge boost to the sector. Any e-commerce operation needs a strong and robust supply chain network, of which, modern warehousing forms a critical component. As global e-commerce companies rapidly look to expand in their battle for retail supremacy, investments in infrastructure like warehousing; especially well located, modern, compliant with very high construction quality; will remain a top priority. In a previous report, we have also estimated that e-commerce companies themselves will require at the very least 25 million sq. ft. of Grade-A warehousing stock in 2025 across the country which in 2020 was 9.3 million square feet.

SpiceXpress keeps up to its tradition of creating unique propositions in the Indian Logistics field by inaugurating the first of its kind Airport Based Free Trade Zone Warehouse in GMR Hyderabad international Airport, Telengana. At a time when India and the state of Telengana in specific is looking forward to promote the export and import of goods and help the manufacturers and traders boost their business we at SpiceXpress have taken the initiative of creating the Free Trade Zone at GMR Hyderabad International Airport, which is the right solution. A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to customs duty. Most of our free trade zones are on the sea port side helping the manufacturers and traders who use the sea mode. Manufacturers and traders using Air mode, specifically Pharma, E Commerce, Aero Space, Perishables, etc had logistical challenges using these free trade zones. We at SpiceXpress are the first ones to set up a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Warehouse on the Airport Side. We thank Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary to Government of Telengana, I&C and ITE&C Department for gracing the occasion and inaugurating the facility and opening it for all the manufacturers and traders to use.

Singapore-based Xander Investment Management (“Xander”) recently announced that its industrial platform has acquired an additional 1 million square feet of warehousing space in Free Trade and Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) located at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Xander which already owns 1 million square feet of warehouses in the FTWZ with this acquisition has immediately doubled its ownership in the park to 2 million square feet. Notified as the first FTWZ in India, and recently approved as a Multi-Sector SEZ, the park provides Grade-A warehousing and industrial facilities to global operators and manufacturers. Many big names such as DHL, DB Schenker, Kerry Indev, TVS Supply Chain, and Seaways Supply Chain are currently the occupiers of the facility. “The expansion in JMFTZ is fueled by strong tenant performance and enhanced demand from existing and new occupiers. The new facilities will provide a further thrust to the logistics and manufacturing sectors in the region and act as a catalyst for more rapid economic development in Tamil Nadu. We are leveraging our expertise and knowledge to design best in class industrial/ logistics infrastructure with an emphasis on ESG and sustainability,” said a Xander spokesperson.

As the Indian growth story has progressed, the logistics industry has played a vital role in empowering other sectors. G.V. Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman GVK, highlights “how the logistics sector in India, which was at $160 billion in 2017, has witnessed a tremendous growth. In 2020, its market was estimated at $215 billion”. The underlying factors driving this upward trend is the increasing demand of e-commerce in the non-metro cities of India. In recent years, e-commerce has expanded aggressively to tier-2 and tier-3 cities across the country, which has further led to the growth of the logistics sector to keep up with the rising demand. In the fourth quarter of 2020, smaller cities accounted for 46 per cent share in total e-commerce volumes, marking a steep 14 per cent rise from the period just before the Covid-19 pandemic spread. A striking reason for the increased online spending per customer in these cities is driven by the development of last-mile delivery by the logistics companies and an exponential increase in the warehousing space. This trajectory is expected to continue with annual investments being made to the tune of $500 billion, with the projected CAGR for 2019-2025 standing at 10.5 per cent. Similarly, the investments made in the warehousing segment have increased by $7.12 billion between 2018 and 2020.

CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd., India’s leading real estate consulting firm, announced the findings of its ‘INDIA’S INDUSTRIAL & WAREHOUSING SECTOR: TENACIOUS AMIDST THE TURNING TIDE’ report. Against the backdrop of robust growth of manufacturing, e-commerce and third-party logistics (3PL) sectors, the report highlights how Industrial and Warehousing (I&W) activity has gained momentum over the past few years in India. The report delves into the dynamics of the current manufacturing ecosystem in India and its improving prospects as an alternative supply chain destination on account of elements such as favorable demographics, relatively low labor costs, and continued thrust on infrastructure improvement and policy reforms. Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, India & South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE, said, “Over the past decade, India has consistently aimed at diversifying from a services-based economy to becoming an alternate manufacturing destination in APAC. As a result, the demand in the Indian I&W sector has surged, making it one of the key growth drivers of the real estate industry. With strong government support to ease investment norms through attractive tax sops and policy initiatives, we can expect increased interest from domestic and global manufacturers.”

Economic activity in the logistics industry has seen an upsurge recently due to a strong consumer demand that continues to put pressure on warehousing and transportation networks. In June, the Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) reached the second-highest level in the history of the last five-year index and was registered at 75, showing a growth of 4%. According to the LMI researchers, the quarterly three-month moving average also reached a record level this spring, indicating second-quarter growth as the fastest in the history of the index. While the inventory levels and costs continue to exempt growth in June and rose 9 points and more than 5 points, respectively. The warehousing and transportation capacity continued to contract, registering 40.7 and 34.5 respectively. “The combined lack of capacity makes it difficult to meet consumer expectations. The mismatch between supply and demand has driven logistics costs up, despite the fact that inventory is flowing quickly,” according to the report.

Knight Frank India, an international property consultancy, in their latest report – ‘India Warehousing Market Report – 2021’, projects that annual warehousing transactions for top eight Indian cities (primary markets) will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% to 76.2 mn sq ft (7.08 mn sq m) by Financial Year (FY) 2026 from 31.7 mn sq ft (2.95 mn sq m) in FY 2021. As per the projections for the next 5 years (FY 2022 – FY 2026), e-commerce segment is expected to take up significant space estimated to be 98 mn sq ft (9.1 mn sq m) approximately registering an increase of 165% from the preceding period of FY 2017 – 2021. Third Party Logistics (3PL) and other Sector companies are expected to take up 56% (83 mn sq ft) and 43% (53 mn sq ft) more space respectively, over the same reference period.

The Centre has developed an online portal to collect details about government and private warehouses, a move that will enable monitoring of storage availability on a real-time basis, a senior Food Ministry official said on Tuesday. This will also help to know real-time foodgrain stock available in any of the warehouses in the country, he said. The portal has been designed in view of the delay in timely collection of warehouse data, and lack of platform to collect private warehouse details and storage capacity, he added. According to the official, “Creation of an online portal is a step closer to achieve the objective of National Food Security Act (NFSA) in a transparent manner.”

Developer of Grade A industrial real estate and logistics parks IndoSpace on June 23 announced the launch of two parks, Vallam II and Oragadam III in Tamil Nadu, with a combined area of 118 acres, the company said. Both parks will cater to companies from the automotive and electronics sectors. Original equipment manufacturers like Yamaha, Hyundai, Royal Enfield, Nissan, Daimler and Foxconn are amongst the most prominent industrial entities in these regions, it said. The parks will boost IndoSpace’s footprint across strategically significant regions and are a step towards its long-term goal of creating 120 million square feet of modern logistics infrastructure across India.

As the country is reeling under acute oxygen shortage amid rising number of Covid-19 cases, Stellar Value Chain Solutions has set aside 1.5 million square feet of warehousing space and transportation services to beef up the supply of the life-saving element to hospitals on cost-free basis. The lion’s share of the warehousing space will come up in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore and in other metro/mini metro cities. Stellar Value Chain Solutions will also provide its fleet of refrigerated trucks for transporting Covid-19 vaccines besides facilitating storage of oxygen cylinders, oxygen equipment and oxygen concentrators forgoing the entire cost. The company has warehousing space across the country and robust express, less-than-truckload and temperature-controlled transportation infrastructure, which the company has decided to press into service for the nation. “In this moment of crisis, we stand by the country and volunteer our warehouses and transportation services for the fight against Covid-19. Saving the lives of our fellow citizens is the utmost priority for us at the moment. Even as the healthcare system is doing its best to fight the pandemic, corporates like us have to do our bit for the nation in such an unprecedented crisis. A number of large corporates are coming forward to reconfigure their manufacturing processes to produce more medical oxygen. We are coming forward to provide free of cost storage and transportation of all Covid related requirements such as Vaccines, Oxygen Cylinders, Oxygen concentrators, Mattresses, Beds and Other Medical Equipments” said Anshuman Singh, Chairman and MD, Stellar Value Chain Solutions.