NCMSL to invest Rs 420 cr to set up warehouses, cold chains

National Collateral Management Services Ltd (NCMSL), which provides agri-commodity handling and risk management services, today said it plans to invest Rs 420 crore in the next two years to set up warehouses with a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes.

"We are planning to invest about Rs 420 crore in a project that aims at building 55 warehouses, six cold storage facilities and three multi-purpose logistics centres," NCMSL CEO and Managing Director Sanjay Kaul said.

"The total storage capacity of these storage facilities for agri-commodities would be 1.4 million tonnes," he said. At present, NCMSL does not have warehouses of its own. It operates through 410 warehouses taken on lease.

"The company plans to construct its own warehouses in 10 states, including Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, as it is losing 40 per cent of its revenue towards payment of lease rent every year," he said. 

Asked about the source of funding, Kaul said the company is looking at raising about Rs 140 crore through equity, while the rest would be debt.

"We are already in talks with the International Finance Corporation, the private financing arm of World Bank, and the private equity arm of the Rabo Bank Group," he said, adding that the company is also holding discussions with some of its shareholders such as fertiliser major IFFCO and Hafed.

Kaul said that work on the project would commence in the next two months, and attain completion by 2012. 

NCMSL has been engaged by the Food Corporation of India to procure commodities under the minimum support price (MSP) operations. The company has procured and handled two million tonnes of paddy and wheat on behalf of FCI since 2005-06. 

Apart from procurement, NCMSL provides services such as storage, collateral management, commodity finance, testing and consultancy, besides preparing market reports on the entire range of commodities traded in the country.