Safexpress to invest Rs 300 crore to set up 6 logistics parks

Supply chain and logistics company Safexpress today said it is planning to invest Rs 300 crore to set up six more logistics parks across the country.
The firm today opened its 32nd logistics park facility in Hyderabad. Set up at an investment of Rs 30 crore, the park is spread over 4 lakh sq ft and is the company's largest logistics park in South India, senior officials of Safexpress said here.
"With the launch of the logistics park in Hyderabad, we have completed our five-year plan of building 32 ultra modern logistics parks across the country.
"We have six new logistics parks under construction at Bengaluru, Jaipur, Mumbai, Siliguri, Aurangabad and Ludhiana," Safexpress Managing Director Rubal Jain told reporters here.

The upcoming parks are going to cost about Rs 300 crore and expected to be launched around 2019, Jain said, adding they will be funded mostly through internal accruals.
The firm has warehousing space of over 13 million sq ft across its 32 logistics parks and another 1 million sq ft will be added with the upcoming parks, said Safexpress Vice President (Marketing) Vineet Kanaujia.

The company clocked Rs 1,600-crore revenue in the last financial year and is aiming for a double digit topline growth in the current fiscal.
Asked about the impact of GST on the logistics sector, Jain said "...Overall logistics costs will come down when warehousing and inventory holding costs are included. But we see transportation costs, which truck companies incur, going up. We don't see any change in that stance till diesel is brought under GST."

"Because costs are going up we are working with customers for long-term strategies by redesigning their entire supply chain. Transportation costs is going up. Overall the customer is saving, but, costs for a logistics express distribution company like ours are going up and so we are discussing that with the customers," he added.
Safexpress provides supply chain and logistics services to over 5,000 corporate clients. It has a fleet of over 5,000 GPS-enabled vehicles and claimed to have country's largest distribution network spanning over 620 destinations.