Category Archives: Warehousing

The National Capital Region in the first quarter of calendar year 2024 added 2.3 million square feet of fresh Grade A industrial and warehousing space to take the overall supply to nearly 7 million square feet across the top-5 markets, according to a Colliers latest report. Demand was led by third party logistics players, which accounted for over 40 per cent of the total warehousing space taken up during the quarter.

“Currently Indian Railways boasts one of the largest rail networks globally. The dedicated freight corridors have improved rail freight transportation efficiency, but challenges such as capacity constraints and last-mile connectivity persist, says Mohit Kapoor, Chair Projects and Events Committee Warehousing Association of India. He adds, “The extensively expanding road network in India is improving yesteryear’s traffic congestion, poor road conditions, and operational inefficiencies. The air cargo industry is growing, with major airports serving as cargo hubs. However, infrastructure limits, limited freight handling facilities, high operating expense, complex legal frameworks, lack of smooth integration between multiple forms of transportation, and sustainability issues are main hurdles, in addition to hesitancy for technological upgrade, and environmental concerns in unplanned ways of development.”

DACHSER announced that it is acquiring Brummer Logistik in Germany and Brummer Logistic Solutions in Austria, encompassing the entire operational business of the Brummer Group. “Under the terms of the deal, the companies agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The acquisition still requires the approval of the German and Austrian competition authorities,” reads the release. In 2023, the family-owned companies generated revenue of around EUR 128 million, putting them among the leading food logistics providers in Central Europe. The two owners and managing directors of the Brummer Group, Hans Brummer and Simone Brummer-Leebmann, have decided to concentrate their business activities on the management and development of real estate, particularly in the logistics sector. They will be supported in this enterprise by their daughter, Valerie Brummer. Brummer Logistik was founded in 1977 in Neuburg am Inn, Bavaria, where it owns a 40,000 m2 facility for refrigerated and frozen food. Brummer Logistic Solutions launched in 2021 and has 45,000 m2 of storage space at its location in St. Marienkirchen, Austria. Flows of goods from all over Europe are thus strategically consolidated right next to the border, facilitating the optimal utilization of transport capacity and greater efficiency in transit times. In its core market of southern Germany and Austria, Brummer currently employs some 950 people.

Leasing of industrial and warehousing spaces rose by 23 per cent annually in January-March this year to 135 lakh square feet across 19 major tier I, II and III cities of the country on demand from third-party logistics players and manufacturers, according to Savills India. Real estate consultant Savills India on Thursday released the data on demand for industrial and logistics spaces. The year started on an impressive note, with a strong absorption or leasing of 13.5 million (135 lakh) square feet in January-March 2024 compared to 11 million (110 lakh) square feet in the year-ago period. Tier I cities witnessed 78 per cent of the absorption, while tier II and III cities accounted for the remaining 22 per cent. Leasing of industrial and warehousing spaces in Tier I cities increased 25 per cent to 10.5 million (105 lakh square feet) during January-March 2024 from 8.4 (84 lakh square feet) in the year-ago period. Tier II and III cities witnessed a 20 per cent growth to 3 million (30 lakh) square feet from 2.5 million (25 lakh) square feet.

TVS ILP (a part of TVS Mobility Group) launched new state-of-art warehouse in Cuttack, Odisha. The upcoming facility spans 24 acres of land, housing two large warehouses totalling 5 lakh square feet, catering sectors like FMCG, FMCD, 3PL, and e-commerce. With its presence at a strategic location at the confluence of the Mumbai and Chennai-Kolkata highways (off NH 55), it enjoys excellent connectivity to the Paradip port and the major parts of the country. TVS ILP will invest around ₹125 Crore in the project and it anticipates its completion by the end of December 2024. The Cuttack logistics park is expected to generate over 110 direct jobs and between 500 to 1,000 indirect employment opportunities in the region. Additionally, as part of TVS ILP’s commitment to sustainability, the logistics park will incorporate green building principles, focusing on energy efficiency, water conservation, and the use of sustainable materials. Plans are underway to certify the park with the Edge Advanced Green Building certification issued by the International Finance Corporation. Commenting on the development, Mr. Manikandan Ramachandran, COO, TVS ILP, said, “The Choudwar Industrial Estate has immense growth potential, and our new facility aims to enable businesses to efficiently cater to the rapidly growing demand from the eastern part of the country. We look forward to contributing to the region’s prosperity by creating meaningful employment opportunities for the local community while building seamless connectivity across various trade points. This facility is a step further in our commitment to build industrial parks every 400 km in India. As the first player to explore the market, we desire to remain steadfast in our aggressive expansion plans into the Eastern markets.”

Construction work on the State’s first multi-modal logistics park began recently in Tiruvallur district. It is being built at a cost of ₹1,500 crore on 181 acres of land. The work is being carried out in build operate transfer (BOT) mode and the first phase, during which road connectivity would be provided, will be completed in two years. “We already have a four-lane wide road, which is the State Highway. It will get some upgrades, including a flyover, and will be connected to the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road,” said officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) implementing the project. Apart from road connectivity, the park will also get rail connectivity. “We have begun acquiring lands for laying the 10-km-long railway line to connect it with the Kadambathur railway station,” the officials said. The park is being built on an all-open, dry land with no structures. The rail connectivity work will take at least four years to complete. The park, which is coming up as part of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, the objective of which is to offer smooth intermodal freight movement, will have facilities that include automated warehouses, cold storage and customs facilities, cargo terminals, and truck terminals. Various commodities, including textile, apparel, grain, electronics, consumer goods, and automobiles and automobile components may be handled at the logistics park. Over a period of 45 years, this facility is expected to cater to a cargo volume of 7.17 million tonnes.

In a significant development for India’s logistics sector, GR Logistics Park (Indore) Private Limited (GRIP), a subsidiary of G R Infraprojects Ltd. (GRIL), and PSA Ameya (PSA), a subsidiary of PSA India, have formalised an agreement to establish an Inland Container Depot (ICD) at the Multimodal Logistics Park (MMLP) in Indore. This collaboration comes after GRIP secured the MMLP project and subsequently signed a 45-year concession agreement with National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The MMLP in Indore will provide warehousing, an ICD, a domestic container terminal and a private freight terminal, among other facilities. Under the terms of the partnership with PSA, GRIL will oversee the development of the entire MMLP facility, while PSA will manage the containerised rail operations. Leveraging PSA’s leadership in container port operations and its presence at Nhava Sheva Port (Navi Mumbai), the collaboration aims to provide doorstep delivery of logistics services to industries in the region. This partnership, PSA’s first venture into the operation of a rail ICD in India, not only marks a significant milestone in the development of the MMLP Indore project, but also signifies the potential for long-term collaboration between the partners on future projects.

I believe 70-75 % of generic drugs today are exported to Europe and USA from India. Our pharma industry is doing a fantastic job and getting regular FDA nods from the US Drug administrators, affirms Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, CSC. Go to any pharmacy abroad, you will find Indian generic drugs. The important factor is this development enables us to build cross border pharma e-commerce capabilities out of India, says Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, CSC. He adds, “If we develop the capability of providing pharma e-commerce services, the world will recognize us, and that is what is needed. Domestic pharma industry would benefit greatly from this vision. We must develop our skills for product delivery to Europe and the USA in a controlled manner.”

Beyond SqFeet Supply Chain Solutions has started construction of its new state-of-the-art storage facility at Tharu Road, Gurgaon, Haryana. “This is Phase 1 development of our North India footprint. The facility will provide efficient storage solutions and it will facilitate B2B and B2C fulfilment for our customers. The facility is ESG Compliant with ultra-modern amenities,” said an official LinkedIn Post. “With large scale infrastructure projects under construction, such as Delhi – Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Dedicated Freight Corridor, NCR remains as the strong consumption centre in India, we are looking to expand quickly in North and up-North geographies,” said Pratap Hazra, Director, Beyond SqFeet Supply Chain Solutions in a LinkedIn post.

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has signed MoU with Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) for driving innovation and efficiency in the logistics. The partnership aims to leverage the respective strengths of CONCOR and CWC to optimize supply chain management, enhance customer service, and foster growth in the industry. The collaboration will encompass sharing infrastructure, technology, expertise, and resources to achieve common objectives to offer seamless and cost-effective, end to-end logistics service including First Mile Last Mile solution by offering to its stakeholders the best logistics solutions with an overall purpose to reduce the logistics cost of the nation. CONCOR operates 59 terminals across the country along with two strategic tie-ups. The company’s primary operation is to provide inland transportation of containers from ports using rail wagons. The company also manages cold storage chains and warehouses. The logistics solution providers consolidated net profit rose 12.42% to Rs 330.74 crore on 10.28% increase in revenue from operation to Rs 2,210.57 crore in Q3 FY24 over Q3 FY23.