Xander acquires 1 million sq ft warehousing space in Sriperumbudur
Premium- Xander didn't disclose the investment details, but a person familiar with the development said the value of the acquisition is about ₹400-500 crore
Bengaluru: Xander Investment Management, the private equity real estate arm of Singapore-based The Xander Group Inc, on Wednesday said its industrial platform has acquired 1 million sq ft of warehousing space in Free Trade and Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
Xander did not disclose the investment details.
The value of the acquisition is about ₹400-500 crore, said a person familiar with the development.
Xander already owns 1 million sq ft of warehouses in FTWZ and the new acquisition will double its ownership in the park.
The investment is part of its $250 million industrial platform.
Notified as the first FTWZ in India, and recently approved as a multi-sector special economic zone, the park provides Grade-A warehousing and industrial facilities to global operators and manufacturers. Current occupiers include companies such as DHL, DB Schenker, Kerry Indev, TVS Supply Chain and Seaways Supply Chain.
“The expansion in JMFTZ is fueled by strong tenant performance and enhanced demand from existing and new occupiers. The new facilities will provide a further thrust to the logistics and manufacturing sectors in the region and act as a catalyst for more rapid economic development in Tamil Nadu," said a Xander spokesperson.
The FTWZ is located on the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) with connectivity to Chennai, Ennore and Kamrajar Ports, which together account for nearly 20% of container traffic in the country.
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It is also close to industrial belts such Oragadam, Maraimalai Nagar, Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram, which are home to a number of electronics, and auto and auto ancillary companies.
Sunil Rallan, chairman and managing director at JMFTZ, said “The recognition of FTWZ as a multi-sector special economic zone provides enormous growth opportunity to attract relocating supply chains which are seeking to set up manufacturing in the CBIC. Being asset light is the mantra for most of the relocating supply chains. FTWZ has already provided over 1,000 new jobs and further expansion will create more employment and immensely contribute to the local economy. With one third of exports from SEZs, it has the potential to become a strong pillar of the Indian economy."
Xander has been ramping up its warehousing platform steadily. Earlier this year, it acquired a 31-acre logistics park in Bagnan, located in West Bengal’s Howrah district, in its first warehousing investment in eastern India as regional demand grows. Xander also leased around 1.1 million sq ft of warehousing space to e-commerce firms Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra this year.
According to the recent ‘India Warehousing Market Report – 2021’, Knight Frank India projected warehousing transactions for the top eight Indian cities (primary markets) to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19% to 76.2 million sq ft by 2025-2026 from 31.7 million sq ft in 2020-21.
Despite the decline, Mumbai remained the most expensive prime warehouse rental market in the country, followed by Bengaluru.
“The warehousing sector in India witnessed a marginal impact of the second wave of pandemic as the occupiers were well geared for negating the exigencies. More than half of the area transacted in top Indian warehousing markets were recorded in the prime asset properties. The warehousing markets in primary and secondary Indian markets are likely to remain resilient in coming months," said Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India.
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