Mahindra Logistics, part of Mahindra Group, is planning to add around 500,000 square feet of warehousing space by the end of the current financial year as part of its expansion in the country.
Further, the company would look at investing in start-ups in the technology and analytics space in order to support its growth, said Mahindra Logistics Ltd CEO Pirojshaw Sarkari.
The plans include expansion in South India, including in cities like Chennai, adding two more warehouses to the existing three -- focusing on the automotive and manufacturing sectors. In Chennai, it will add 200,000 square feet before the end of the current financial year.
"Bengaluru and Hyderabad are the two other areas where we will be setting up our warehouses in South India. We are looking at adding about half a million square feet before March 31, 2019," said Sarkari. He later said that the plans are to add around one million square feet in total in the next one year. The company will be focusing on the high margin businesses of warehousing and distribution. It currently has around 13 million square feet space across the country.
"We are looking at niche acquisitions, in the technology or analytics space especially, to optimise its cost in logistics. We are not going to look at acquiring any logistics company for topline growth, that is for sure," he added. The company entered the public market last November and currently has around Rs 1 billion cash in hand for any such requirement.
The company has recently invested around Rs 7 billion in ShipX, a freight management solution start-up. Sarkari said that for the company, the information of the customer is key and it cannot risk that by giving the work to an external company.
It is currently serving automobile manufacturers, including BMW, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Mercedes Benz, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, and others.