Safexpress expands Chennai operations

S afexpress has inaugurated its state-of-the-art logistics park at Chennai, spread over 3,86,000 square feet. The company has also announced plans to open three other ultra-modern logistics parks in Tamil Nadu. Speaking at the CII Logistics Summit 2009 held in Chennai on October 5, Vineet Kanaujia, GM – marketing, Safexpress, said: “We are developing world-class warehousing facilities at various strategic locations across India. We plan to build five million square feet of additional warehousing space in the next couple of years, adding to our already existing warehousing space of five million square feet. In all, we plan to launch 32 logistics parks in the next two years. These parks will revolutionise the way supply chains operate in India today.” Claiming that the company is spearheading a warehousing revolution, Kanaujia said: “We have already established five of our state-of-the-art logistics parks in Gurgaon, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and NCR. Our Chennai unit will help us in providing clients with cutting-edge state-of-the-art trans-shipment and 3PL services. We have invested over Rs 35 crore in developing this ultra-modern facility at Chennai.” Speaking about the unit’s unique features, he said: “This is the largest warehousing facility of its kind in this region. Also, for safer and smoother movement of goods within this park, we have installed high-tech equipment. Customised plastic pallets of premium quality ensure that goods are handled absolutely safely. Dedicated bays and docks provide an uninterrupted and unidirectional flow of inbound and outbound goods.” “Our logistics park in Chennai will be operational 24x7, 365 days a year to provide ‘time-definite’ deliveries. Due to our seamless and non-stop operations, we will be providing the fastest transit time of 1.8 days for deliveries all across the country from Chennai. This will vastly augment the standards of supply chain and logistics in the region, and consequently contribute to its economic growth,” Kanaujia added. Huge potential Highlighting the importance of establishing such parks in South India, Kanaujia pointed out, “We have already established such parks in the northern, western and the eastern regions of the country. We plan to open such parks throughout Tamil Nadu at key industrial hubs like Chennai, Salem and Puducherry.” Highlighting the opportunities for the warehousing business in India, he said: “There is a huge growth opportunity for warehousing in the country. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are one of the major driving forces for the business in India. A large number of upcoming SEZs have necessitated the development of logistics parks for the domestic market as well as for global trade.” Kanaujia further added, “With phasing out of CST from next year and the development of SEZs and Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZs), warehousing will play an ever important role in the growth of Indian supply chain and logistics industry. Rising investments in infrastructure and the Centre’s decision to cut excise duty rates for manufacturing goods would further boost the demand for the warehousing business in India.”