Industrial Warehousing, a key demand driver for foreign investors

The warehouse industry of India is driven by superior logistics and warehousing systems. The key element of a warehouse influences the entire value chain starting from raw material to customer satisfaction. Logistics and industrial parks have lately seen the entry of many foreign investors. The advent of such a trend has taken place either by potential partnership with a local developer or by liaison with global warehousing operators. The growth in the warehousing has taken place with increasing demand from occupants, who are mainly into manufacturing sector, 3PL and e-commerce. The implementation of GST, infrastructure status and such other conducive government reforms has enabled the sector in driving demand for large integrated warehousing parks.

To meet global standards, the park operators like us keep eye on attention to detail and provide globally approved amenities like dormitories, round the clock canteen, first aid centres, 24/7 security coverage, an excellent fire-fighting system, and ample parking space for trucks so the flow of the traffic remains unaffected and does not hamper workflow. Superior logistic parks like Embassy Industrial Parks even provide built-to-suit industrial parks where clients can have up to 2x expandability.

Recent reports from analyst firms state that the industrial and logistics segment has attracted $500 million (about 3,500 crore) investment since 2017, post the implementation of GST. A survey conducted recently, showed 70 per cent of respondents indicating improvement in ease of doing business mainly on account of e-way billing which has removed a lot of bottlenecks in cargo storage and transport business. About 80 per cent of respondents felt that the taxation system improved, while 40 per cent respondents indicated that they will increase the number of warehouses in this new post-GST era. The position for warehousing will strengthen and estimated that leasing will be about 10-15 per cent higher this year at 25-30 million sq. ft. compared to last year.

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