TCI lines up Rs 250 cr capex in FY 15 to augment capacity

Logistics player Transport Corporation of India (TCI) will be investing Rs 250 crore in 2014-15 on augmenting capacity, which will also include purchase of new cargo vessels, a top official said here.

"We have a capex (capital expenditure) plan of Rs 250 crore for the fiscal year for a host of purposes," TCI managing director Vineet Agarwal told PTI.

The Gurgaon-headquartered company will raise Rs 100 crore from internal accruals, while the rest will be debt to be raised from various lenders, he said.

Agarwal said this includes Rs 65 crore for purchase of cargo vessels which are deployed in the Bay of Bengal, Rs 50 crore for purchase of new trucks and goods carriers and Rs 125 crore to create new hub centres.

The company has already acquired one vessel at around Rs 25 crore, taking its fleet size to four, and is currently on the lookout for one more ship which would be bigger in size.

TCI's current fleet has a tonnage of 4,500 to 5,000 DWTs and the vessel to be acquired now will be bigger than this, Agarwal said, adding the company is looking at deploying the newer ship on the eastern coast itself.

The vessels currently help get essential cargo to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from Vishakapatnam and Chennai ports, he said.

The company is targeting an overall revenue growth of 10-15% for the fiscal, which is much higher than the 5% achieved in FY14, Agarwal said.

He said the overall economic growth and the release of the pent-up demand in the auto sector will help it achieve the targeted growth.

When asked about the margins, which got squeezed in FY14 due to the repeated price hikes in diesel, Agarwal exuded confidence that it will be able to expand the EBITDA margin.

He said many of the contracts will get re-priced during the fiscal and also due to the faster economic growth which drives demand.

At present, 38% of the company's revenues come from the freight segment, 30% from the express and 26% from the supply chain vertical, he said.