We are going in for warehousing solutions which not only meet but exceed customer requirements.

Niranjan Hiranandani

- Co-Founder and MD, Hiranandani Group

How do you access the challenges and opportunities for the warehousing industry in the backdrop of the Covid impacted the sector?

As the second wave has shown, the Covid-19 pandemic is a bigger challenge that was estimated; the vaccination process in a country with such a huge population will take time. The economy has been impacted negatively, but for warehousing and logistics, the pandemic has been the single largest driver of growth.

The implementation of GST has brought in enhanced demand for warehousing from locations other than locations just outside Octroi limits. Now warehouses are coming up at locations which have been evaluated on how efficient they would be.

Grade A warehouses are in demand - and not just in Metro locations. We are seeing new Grade A warehousing in tier 2 and 3 locations as well.

Assimilation of Global Best Practices makes its case for serious consideration by warehousing majors even as India moves up on the automated warehousing chain.

These two aspects - more quantum of Grade A warehousing space as also assimilating Global Best Practices are the main challenges in terms of the huge opportunity which the pandemic is creating across geographies.

The existing customer base is growing; new segments which have received a fillip as a result of the pandemic are also driving demand for warehousing across India.

What is your take on the low penetration of good quality warehousing space in Tier 2 and 3 cities?

It is true that till a few years ago, warehousing in India had not kept pace with international trends, neither in terms of quality nor quantity. Now the scenario has changed; organised players are not just ramping up their capacities, but also bringing in automation in response to the pandemic.

From just being a 'storage space' to being an integral part of the logistics chain, it has been a journey of change for Indian warehousing over the past few years. It will take time to assimilate growth trends with the rising demand, but things are moving - and at a fast pace.

As demand grows, it is fuelling enhanced capacity of Grade A warehouses in tier 2 and 3 locations, as also in geographies which earlier were not considered as ideal for warehousing, going by the 'Octroi' factor. The Indian economy is changing, and in sync with this change, Metro cities are no longer the only places showing huge demand - obviously, Grade A warehouses are coming up not just in Tier 2 and 3 locations, but also geographies which earlier were not considered.

The hub and spoke model especially in urban areas, is driving demand for in-city warehousing. The customer wants time bound delivery as also quick delivery, these trends have driven growth of in-city warehousing.

How important has adoption of technology been in the warehousing space especially in the backdrop of Covid pandemic?

The pandemic has brought out the dangers of transmission of infection, and this has been the biggest factor driving automation in warehousing.

The organic growth of warehousing over the past few years before the Covid-19 pandemic had laid the foundation of technology usage, simply because efficiency is needed to be successful in a competitive environment as also the huge quantum of increased capacity which the scenario pointed towards.

Assimilating Global Best Practices became necessary as warehousing found itself being positioned as an asset class for investors - and attracted global players to invest in India.

Now, with one segment of warehousing service providers providing better set of services in their offering, the market sees demand for more service providers to also catch up and upgrade their offering. Whether one attributes this upgrading to customer demand or the need to keep up with other players in the industry, the impact is definitely positive.

Customers are looking for warehousing solutions which are efficient, cost effective and safe - and players are adopting new technologies which support these requirements.

What are your growth plans in terms of investments and increasing your portfolio? Are you looking at acquisition / tie ups to expand your presence in other markets?

GreenBase is a Hiranandani Group company in the warehousing and logistics vertical, and it follows all work ethics which a market leader should have. In sync with market trends, we are going in for warehousing solutions which not only meet buy exceed customer requirements.

Green Base aims at not just being a plain vanilla warehousing company; but a solutions provider. In keeping with the Group's philosophy of providing a quality product while leveraging cutting edge technology, we are working on projects across the country.

Chennai, Pune, Nashik and Durgapur are among the locations we are working on, apart from locations in the NCR and the MMR. The aim is to become a major player in the segment, offering global best practices.

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