Allcargo takes a lead in North East’s logistics movement

Guwahati warehouse is gateway to North East Avvashya CCI’s warehouse in Guwahati offers state-of-art facilities in emerging hub

For long denied focus and funds, India’s North Eastern states have now been identified for growth, and allocated significant resources for sustained development. Boosting infrastructure development is being accorded top priority in the renewed thrust on North East region, opening new opportunities for the logistics sector.

As India’s leading logistics player, Allcargo has redoubled its investments and efforts in the North East region to emerge as a key logistics partner. Avvashya CCI’s state-of-art new warehousing and distribution facility in Guwahati is the company’s flagship initiative in the region, re-establishing Allcargo’s stature as a dominant player for contract logistics in the new logistical hub.

New vision for North East

Waking to their huge potential and their strategic location for trade and commerce within the government’s Look East policy, the eight North Eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura are witnessing a wave of investments for development.

Thousands of crores have been earmarked for projects in the North East region — from broad gauging and capital connectivity rail projects and improvement of 5,300km of roads under the Bharatmala Project, to the Rs5,300 crore comprehensive telecom development plan and Rs4,700 crore scheme for strengthening the transmission and distribution systems in the region. To augment the railway network, seven railway projects consisting of three new rail lines and four doubling of lines have been taken up in the past three years.

Assam, being the gateway to the region, is emerging as the new logistics hub. The state government has chalked out a logistics policy to promote the setting up of warehouses and cold storages. The policy aims to utilise the location advantage of Assam, to reach out to millions of consumers.

Invested in growth

Avvashya CCI Logistics Pvt ltd, a subsidiary company of Allcargo Logistics, has set up an auto-ancillary warehousing and distribution facility in Guwahati, Assam. “As the industry moves up the economic curve, we foresee clear demand for quality facilities on a ‘shared facility’ basis and we are poised to establish our presence in the clusters to tap the huge potential,” says Arindam Chakrabarti, Head — Automotive and Engineering Solutions, Avvashya CCI.

Avvashya CCI is investing Rs60 crore to build the auto engineering parts warehouse in Guwahati. The first phase of the facility, due for opening by December 2018, will be spread across one lakh square feet, and expand to three lakh square feet with the completion of the second phase. A large part of the investment will be used towards automation in the state-of-the-art facility designed to meet global standards. “The warehouse will be a partially HD (heavy duty) racked warehouse, with shelving and block storage for odd dimensional cargo. The warehouse will provide end-to-end management, which includes last mile delivery,” says Mr Chakrabarti, adding that the DPS Road location of the warehouse on the Kolkata-Assam highway allows the warehouse to become the gateway to the whole of North East.

Partner in progress

As companies from different sectors and brands tap the North East market, the need for warehousing and distribution is expected to grow manifold. Distance from the mainland was one of the key reasons for the North East not getting its due recognition and this is precisely the reason why this region will need good warehousing and distribution facilities. The topography inhibits development of a robust rail network thus necessitating use of road transport. “North East, with good connectivity to Bhutan, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar, is also an important international corridor for opportunities in trade and commerce with these neighbouring countries,” says Mr Chakrabarti, adding that the warehouse will provide end-to-end management to service the North East sector. “Our foray into the North East completes our pan-India presence and enhances our journey to provide the best of facilities for contract logistics across the country. The new facility launch is part of our business expansion strategy, thereby strengthening our leadership position and our status as the chosen contract logistics partner,” says Adarsh Hegde, Joint Managing Director, Allcargo Logistics.

Technology first

The uniqueness of the warehousing and distribution facility lies in the degree of automation. Through smart integration of technology and service quality of highest standards, the company plans to increase its efficiency and make its logistics processes more effective. “A large chunk of our investment will go into automation to design a facility that meets global standards. Our investment in technology enables us to expand without compromising on quality and allows us to even scale down quickly. This flexibility alongside scalability and economies of scale has helped us to be a leader in this space,” opined Mr Chakrabarti.