Category Archives: Warehousing

Welspun One Logistics Parks has raised upwards of Rs 300 crore from a set of investors comprising of domestic high-net-worth investors and family offices towards the first close of its Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) ‘Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund I’. Launched early this year, this is India’s first warehousing AIF for domestic investors; key distributors of which are Sanctum Wealth Management, Edelweiss and InCred Wealth. The amount raised is a part of its Rs 500 crore maiden fund which when fully raised, along with associated bank financing will enable Welspun One to develop Grade-A warehousing assets worth Rs 1,900 crore; including its flagship 2.7 million square feet project in Bhiwandi which is currently underway. In total, the company expects to deliver a portfolio with an estimated leasable area of 7 to 8 million square feet over the next 3 to 4 years in pre-identified high growth markets such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, NCR, Chennai, Kolkata and Lucknow. Welspun One’s investment strategy is focused on sourcing and developing feasible land parcels which suit institutional investors and get leased by valued occupiers, whilst maintaining high levels of compliance, safety and zero tolerance to regulatory lapses across the project lifecycle. BK Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group, said “Led by an experienced team, Welspun One’s unique proposition of being an integrated platform which is able to execute deals from acquisition to development, leasing and divestment has resonated well with investors; as it mitigates some of the key concerns associated with similar products in the past.” He added, “We continue to be very bullish about this sector and are keen to meaningfully increase our allocation of capital through the Welspun One platform.” “Being the first mover …

IndoSpace has announced the acquisition of 55 acres at Farukhnagar in Haryana. This acquisition is a joint venture with Model Economic Township (METL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Industries, and has a development potential of 1.28 million square feet. With this, IndoSpace has expanded its footprint in Delhi-NCR to over 480 acres across eight parks. The partnership reiterates the strong association between IndoSpace and Model Economic Township. In 2017, IndoSpace acquired 140 acres from METL in Badli, Haryana. The Farukhnagar micro-market has grown exponentially over the last few years and has emerged as a major warehousing and industrial destination in the Delhi NCR. Farukhnagar is close to Gurugram, New Delhi and other major manufacturing and consumption centers, and has fully developed social and physical infrastructure. This proposed development will meet the rising demand in Delhi-NCR for world-class Grade-A warehousing space from 3PL, FMCG, and e-commerce sectors. Rajesh Jaggi, Vice-Chairman – Real Estate, Everstone Group, said, “METL’s expertise in developing large-scale industrial infrastructure in this micro-market will add significant value to this partnership. This project highlights IndoSpace’s focus on supporting the growth of India’s logistics sector, which will continue to expand robustly due to improved warehousing infrastructure.” Shrivallabh Goyal, Whole-Time Director and CEO, METL, said, “We are happy to partner with IndoSpace to develop this world-class facility. This project is testimony to our pioneering efforts to attract world-class companies through best-in-class infrastructure and establish primacy of METL in the industrial and logistics map of Delhi NCR.” The logistics and industrial real estate sector has shown stupendous growth in the Delhi NCR region. The partnerships between IndoSpace and METL will contribute significantly to the transformation of the sector. The partnership …

ESR has announced that it will develop industrial and logistics facility at Chakan near Pune. Spread over 38 acre, this facility will serve as the hub for light manufacturing and logistics operations in the western region of the country. It will be surrounded by some of the largest auto manufacturing industries of the country. Chakan is known as the ‘industrial hub of India’ and is one of the most prominent industrial clusters for engineering, automobile, electronics, FMCG and logistics corporations. This park is ESR”s second development in Chakan. As of 30 June 2020, the fair value of the properties directly held by ESR and the assets under management with respect to the funds and investment vehicles managed by ESR recorded about US$ 26.5 billion. ESR has been listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since November 2019.

“Indian warehousing is going through a transformation,” says, Sandeep Chadha, Partner & Managing Director of Pragati Warehouster. He continues, “With close to 90 per cent of warehousing falling in unorganised category, there are opportunities galore. There is an unprecedented demand for superior Grade-A warehouses from across the industries led by e-commerce. With the onslaught of technology, and favourable tax regime, opportunities are there to scale the operations on a multi-location basis and provide state-of-the-art and globally compliant warehouses. The new normal essentially is incorporating the latest developments. For example, warehouse labour shortages have long been a thorn in global supply chains, but a new web application developed for innovative organisations could soon change that. A host of issues may force warehouse operations to slow down or grind to a halt, but perhaps the most disruptive of all is dealing with a shortage of warehouse employees.” “In times of higher demand, this creates logjams that are tough to break, much less recover from. For businesses, that means both time and resources are wasted. With their first-hand insights into the intricacies of warehousing logistics, we plan a four-member team set out to put an end to this age-old industry problem. Our warehouse operations personnel can easily facilitate the sharing of manpower among the company’s facilities where there are surges in demand. Today logistics cost in India accounts for 13-14 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is nearly double (7-9 per cent) the logistics cost to GDP ratio in developed countries such as the US, Hong Kong and France. So, there is an opportunity for incumbents to play a decisive role in bringing down the cost with the judicious use …

Bajaj Electricals (BEL) and Mahindra Logistics (MLL) signed an agreement for innovative logistics optimisation and outsourcing arrangement. This deal is a complete end-to-end redesign and outsourcing of Bajaj Electricals’ entire logistics by Mahindra Logistics, with the twin objectives of achieving enhanced & industry-best service levels, coupled with a logistics cost saving in excess of 25 per cent. The total contract value, of this one-of-its-kind deal in the Indian Logistics industry, will be in excess of Rs 1,000 crores over the next 5 years and is the outcome of a unique and collaborative solution. Working together closely, MLL has developed for BEL a fully redesigned and consolidated logistics network, with storage optimisation, transportation management and inventory movement through technology, best practice and automation. At the heart of the network, there will be two large ultra-modern mega-warehouses in Delhi and Mumbai, with latest technology, automation and skill-building, enhanced by environmentally conscious, greener & sustainable warehouse practices. This network will further operate fully IT-enabled fulfilment centres from which BEL’s dealers, distributors, customers will enjoy market-leading delivery lead times. As part of the solution, MLL will be deploying a healthy mix of dedicated long-haul fleets and local distribution trucks, enabled by the latest tracking technology and control tower operations. There will also be a transition towards sustainable logistics using electric delivery trucks from EDel by Mahindra Logistics. For BEL, this project marks a significant transition towards leveraging logistics management as a competitive advantage. Speaking on the occasion, Anuj Poddar, Executive Director, said, “At Bajaj Electricals, we have been actively working towards various strategic initiatives to enhance value for our customers and other stakeholders. This collaboration with MLL is one such key initiative and I …

According to the JLL report ‘India Real Estate Outlook – A new growth cycle’, despite unfavourable socio-economic environment, warehousing stock in top eight cities, which includes, NCR Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad has added 27 million sq. ft to reach a total of 238 million sq. ft. in 2020. Further, the demand is expected to grow around 160% to reach 35 million sq. ft in 2021 if the external conditions stay stable, mainly if there is no relapse of COVID / lockdown and so on. Probably over the next one to two quarters, a clearer picture will emerge. “In Q4, the market started gaining momentum with highest supply and absorption in 2020 post the lockdown. Industrial spaces witnessed a 13 per cent Y-o-Y growth in total stock in Grade A & B warehousing space in top eight cities. The overall warehousing space stands at 238 million sq. ft at the end of 2020 compared to 211 million sq. ft in the previous year thereby resulting in a net supply of 27 million sq. ft,” said Yogesh Shevade, Head Industrial Services, JLL, India. “Important point to note here is that in 2020 the end -users / tenants have looked for new and innovative ways to taking up spaces on short term / temporary leased of tenure 9 -12 months for leasing of ‘white spaces / unused spaces’ in existing leased warehouse on sub-lease. Unfortunately, these does not get captured in net absorptions (considering these are already leased),” he added. The warehousing and logistics market in India started gaining impetus with highest supply and absorption in the Q4 of 2020. The demand is expected to increase in 2021 …

Stellar Value Chain Solutions has selected cloud-based enterprise-class supply chain solution from Infor for digitising and streamlining its warehouse management. Easily configurable and available across all distribution centres of the company, the digitalised supply chain service will offer its clients enhanced transparency, visibility and cost-efficiency, accelerate go-to-market strategy and leverage data analytics to identify new market opportunities. “At Stellar Value Chain Solutions, we have successfully initiated a tech-driven supply chain transformation across the country by setting up modern distribution centres following global best practices. Leveraging Infor’s supply chain management excellence and futuristic warehouse management solutions, we have taken the transformation to the next level by rolling out a cloud-based enterprise-class Infor Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) in India. This cutting-edge supply chain solution is scalable and flexible which requires minimal reconfiguration to integrate with the clients’ tech platform. It helps us offer our diversified clientele superior real-time visibility, customised services and data-driven consumer insights. Our world-class tech-enabled supply chain solution will help our clients achieve incremental growth,” said Anshuman Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Stellar Value Chain Solutions. “Digitization is a fundamental reality for businesses today. Infor is proud to be a strategic partner of Stellar Value Chain Solution’s business transformation journey to help bring disruptive change to the Indian supply chain landscape. We have the deep industry experience to understand the complexities and unique technology requirements of this dynamic and fast-evolving industry,” said Ranga Pothula, General Manager, India Business Unit and Senior Vice President, Global Delivery services, Infor, in adding, “Infor’s purpose-built industry-specific solutions in the cloud will deliver to businesses unprecedented visibility into inventory, orders, equipment, and people to enrich service levels, increase product velocity and ensure support for …

Shadowfax Technologies has announced its partnership with Vinculum to foray into Warehouse Management System across 10 centers to offer E2E services. This partnership will address the growing demand in the E2E category by offering end-to-end services across multiple industry segments like e-commerce, apparel, consumer electronics, auto, etc. Shadowfax plans to set up 50 more centers leading the warehousing space to grow from 5lac sq. feet to 12 lac sq. ft. by March 22. Commenting on the partnership, Abhishek Bansal, Founder & CEO, Shadowfax Technologies, said, “Vinculum is an established player in the WMS space. Our partnership will bring a differentiated offering for enterprises and bring them a host of benefits and features backed by solid technology and people. Speed of delivery and customer satisfaction are the two important features that Shadowfax is focusing on to stay ahead of the competition. Integrated software from Vinculum for picking, packing, and shipping from a central warehouse management platform will bring the fulfillment speed to Shadowfax E2E services provided to our clients reaching their customers swiftly, securely with real-time inventory monitoring.” On this partnership, Venkat Nott, Founder and CEO, Vinculum said, “Buyer behavior has shifted to shopping across multiple online and social channels. Online revenues have moved to over 30 per cent of overall retail revenues and expected to continue growing at a frenetic pace. Brands need to be available in channels where customers shop and are looking to fulfill from all locations where inventory is present including making inventory available with distributors for fulfillment of online orders and deliver direct to consumer. This forces brands to adopt cutting-edge technology platforms like Vinculum and fulfillment options that can best serve the customers’ demands. At …

Gati-KWE has announced that it will launch its largest Surface Transhipment Centre (STC) in Delhi, in June this year which is spread over 1.5 lakh sq. ft area. To build the facility, Gati-KWE has taken up space at Allcargo Logistics’ 1.8 million sq. ft. logistics park at Farukh Nagar. Located on Western Peripheral Expressway in Delhi, the state-of-the-art, tech enabled STC will offer superior transit time, accuracy in cargo delivery and high locational advantage of access to all major National Highways. The company has plans to come up with four more STCs in the near future. Apart from consolidating Gati-KWE’s logistics operations on the outskirts to decongest the city, the STC adheres to the green belt requirement. The facility has been conceptualised to achieve economy of scale and provide unparalleled customer service. It will have the capacity to process cargo for short-haul deliveries in North India and long-haul movements across the country. “We are setting up our largest STC in Delhi because the region has been witnessing robust economic growth. The advanced express logistics infrastructure at the facility with enhanced operational efficiency, productivity and throughput will emerge as a key enabler of economic growth in that region. The STC will have the capability to process and transport a massive volume of cargo thanks to the technology integration in the operations and time-defined short-haul and long-haul connectivity,” said Bala Aghoramurthy, Deputy Managing Director, Gati. Gati-KWE’s STC in Delhi will benefit its customers by offering express trucking routes across the country to facilitate faster cargo movement and improved transit time. Gati-KWE is also working towards building competence for enabling short-haul movement from the Farukh Nagar STC to Delhi/NCR and the entire North …

Hiranandani Group has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding in West Bengal to set up an industrial, logistics and hyper-scale data centre park in the region which is estimated to cross Rs 10,000 crore. The group has signed an MoU with Hindustan Motors to acquire a 100-acre land at Uttarpara, Kolkata, to set up an integrated logistics and hyper-scale data centre park by Hiranandani Group companies GreenBase and Yotta respectively, the company said in a statement. GreenBase will deliver 3 million sq feet of industrial and warehousing space along with essential utilities and support infrastructure built to international standards. Yotta, Hiranandani’s hyper-scale data centre division, will see a development of 6 hyper-connected data centre buildings bringing in 250 MW of cutting edge data centre capacity over the next several years to the state. The first phase of the industrial and logistics park will be up and running by June 2022 and the first data centre building will be ready by June 2023, the company said. “Kicking off this project would not have been possible without the tremendous support of the Government of West Bengal under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. West Bengal is the gateway to the east. It is an ideal hub for logistics and industrial development with excellent road, rail and riverine connectivity,” said Darshan Hiranandani, Group CEO, Hiranandani Group. “Simultaneously, the data centre business will benefit from the digitisation revolution, the upcoming Silicon Valley at New Town at Rajarhat and excellent fibre connectivity on land and the new submarine cable coming up at Tajpur. By setting up a data centre park in Kolkata, we will not only serve the customers of the state but the …