DHL to set up first trade warehousing zone near Chennai

Global express and logistics firm DHL would set up its first free trade warehousing zone near here at an investment of $10 million, a top company official said here today.

The free trade warehousing zone, to come up at Sriperumbudur near here and spread across 2.60 lakh square feet, would cater to multiple industries including automobile, engineering and manufacturing, fashion and apparel, DHL Lemuir Logistics Chief Executive Officer Christoph Remund told reporters.

"Given the easy accessibility to Ports and to Airports, the facility would provide distribution management and trading, both in and out of India (for us)," he said.

Stating that the firm has already invested euro 300 million (in 2004) for their operations in India, DHL Global Forwarding Management Chief Executive Officer (South Asia Pacific) Amadou Diallos said this facility was selected because of presence of various industrial clusters near Chennai.

He said their ocean freight and air business were witnessing a double digit growth and through this facility they are expecting the same growth this year too.

"The first phase of our Chennai facility is likely to be operational by November 2010," he said.

The new facility would provide speedy delivery of cargo, integrated solutions, taxation benefits to customers, good transportation network and world class infrastructure.

According to company officials, the Indian logistics market in 2009 reported revenues of $75.19 billion and is expected to reach $120.42 billion in 2014.