Welspun One Logistics Parks Fund 1 commits Rs 500 crore warehousing AIF

Creates a portfolio of Rs 2,300 crore across five cities, aggregating to about 6.6 million square feet of gross leasable area

Welspun One Logistics Parks has committed 100 per cent of its Rs 500 crore corpus across six investments to create a portfolio of Rs 2,300 crore spanning five cities--MMR, NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai and Lucknow-- aggregating to about 6.6 million square feet of gross leasable area. 

Last year, the firm raised India’s first alternative investment fund (AIF) focusing on warehousing development.

Of the 6.6 million sq ft, one million sq ft of area has been delivered and an additional two million sq ft is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of calendar year 2023, the company said.

Fifty per cent of the firm’s funds portfolio will be delivered, operational and rent generating in a little over two years from its first close, said the company.

Notably, about 60 per cent of the portfolio is already pre-leased to a blue-chip roster of tenants such as Delhivery, Flipkart, FM Logistics, Tata Croma, and Ecom Express, with significant scope for leasing of the balance portfolio.

Welspun One was among the first players in the country to spot an opportunity for domestic capital to invest in India’s growing warehousing sector. While the sector had attracted close to $6 billion in FDI over the past 3-4 years, there was no avenue for domestic investors to participate in this space in a hassle free, transparent and institutional manner.

Welspun One provided financialisation of real estate by launching India’s first AIF focussed on warehousing development. It has also raised Rs 500 crore of capital commitments, from a set of high net worth investors including marquee individuals and family offices.

“The advent of REITs in India opened the doors for financialisation of real estate, whereby investors can avoid the hassles of owning physical real estate, namely, illiquidity, high ticket size, maintenance etc, and instead own units in their demat account. This provides them with stable rental income plus potential for capital appreciation,” said Anshul Singhal, managing director, Welspun One Logistics Parks.

Since its first investment in April 2021, in its flagship 110 acre, 2.5 million sq ft park in Bhiwandi (Mumbai Metropolitan Region), the company has added an additional 171 acres across five more investments in a combination of established tier-1 warehousing markets like Delhi/NCR, Bengaluru and Chennai and growth/tier-2 markets such as Lucknow and Kanpur. 

The company has also seen strong leasing traction across projects, which proves its ability to identify and acquire sites in high-demand locations and its collaborative approach with customers, by partnering with them to design and develop unique real estate solutions that seamlessly meet their operational requirements. 

In addition to its current projects, the company has an active pipeline of about 600 acres of land, aggregating to 13 million sq ft of development potential.

Welspun One Logistics Parks has signed MoUs with several state governments such as Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, to develop grade-A warehousing facilities, In the process, the firm has acquired a single window access to government assistance to facilitate timely approvals under the prevailing policies of the respective states.

Over the next five years, the company expects to develop a portfolio of 20-25 million sq ft across “first mile” and “last mile/city centre” facilities in leading Tier-1 and Tier-2/3 cities pan-India.  

India’s warehousing industry continues to show strong growth with an expected CAGR of 18 per cent over the next 3-4 years.

The company is an integrated fund and development management platform, which delivers grade-A logistics and industrial parks across India.