DHL Supply Chain invests in India

DHL Supply Chain will invest 500 million euros ($500 million) into its India operations to increase its warehouse capacity in the country by 12 million square feet and strengthen its workforce and sustainability efforts over the next five years. The warehouse capacity aims to support e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering and manufacturing, as well as automotive sectors, and will be equipped with various types of technology including indoor robotic transport, according to a DHL release. Other automotive features include assisted picking robots, intelligent process automation, wearable devices, voice picking, inventory management robots and more. [caption id="attachment_99077" align="alignright" width="411"] Photo/DHL[/caption] The additional warehouse capacity — which will be wholly owned, multi-client sites — will be spread across various cities in India including Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR) and Pune, all of which are among the top contributors to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to today’s release. Multi-client sites are also being built in Ambala, Baddi, Cochin, Coimbatore and Guwahati, among other “growing state capitals and tier 2 cities,” according to the release. Further, DHL Supply Chain India plans to open two business support centers in Bangalore and Pune with an expected completion date within the next 12 to 18 months to aid with customer demand, according to the release. Centers currently exist in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai. Other investments “As a dynamic, stable and fast-growing economy, the Indian nation plays a key role for the global economy,” DHL Supply Chain Chief Executive Oscar de Bok said in the release. “With a rich pool full of highly qualified young talents and innovative digital entrepreneurs, India is a favorite hub for our global contract logistics in DHL Supply Chain and one of our priority markets.” Indeed, DHL Supply Chain aims to increase its workforce to 25,000 employees by 2025 to support its expansion plans in the country, according to the release. Efforts include investments in skill development and resourcing centers to train employees with certification programs, with the first already located in Bangalore. DHL Supply Chain intends to launch more resourcing centers in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. The intra-city fleet used by the company will be converted to green fuel electric vehicles (EVs) by 2025, according to the release, with 100% of the two-wheeler fleet converted to EVs by yearend. Sustainable technologies such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting and LED lights will be put into place at the new locations to promote DHL’s goal of being climate neutral by 2030. Stakeholders eye Indian expansion With a population of roughly 1.4 billion, India has seen burgeoning cargo growth as cargo stakeholders look to strengthen operations in the country to meet growing demand. Investors include UPS which opened a 15,000-square-foot cargo handling facility at Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) in July while fellow express integrator FedEx announced a $100 million investment in India-based logistics and delivery provider Delhivery . See also : Regional Pulse: Russian airspace closure drives pharma demand through India Meanwhile in June handler Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) secured a 15-year agreement to operate its first cargo-handling terminal in India at BLR starting May 2023. Forwarder DB Schenker also is looking to increase connectivity to and from the region and in January launched a charter route between BLR, Munich (MUC) and Chicago Rockford (RFD) to meet growing demand. “Asia-Pacific currently accounts for about 15% of DHL Supply Chain’s global revenue but is among the fastest-growing regions , with India being a key contributor to this growth,” Terry Ryan, Chief Executive of DHL Supply Chain Asia-Pacific, said in the release. “The Indian logistics market, worth over $200 billion now, is expected to grow at about 10% per year in the next five years to reach around $330 billion.” Freighter capacity in the region is also expected to grow as U.A.E-based Vaayu Group took delivery of a A320-200P2F on behalf of new Indian cargo airline Pradhaan Air Express in July, as reported by Air Cargo World ’s sister publication Cargo Facts . The new carrier intends to use the freighter for both domestic and international charters. Further, a second A320P2F is expected to complete conversion by yearend. India-based IndiGo — which is the second airline to launch Airbus narrowbody freighter operations in India this year — also expects to have two A321-200P2Fs by yearend as part of its growth strategy with operations launching in October. Fellow Indian carrier Blue Dart also has plans to expand its fleet capacity with two 737-800Fs to support growing demand for air capacity in the country, as well add additional freighters to serve secondary cities in India.

DHL Supply Chain invests in India

$500M investment includes 12M square feet of warehouses

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