The conclave began with the eminent thought leader of Indian real estate Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, Vice-Chairman of NAREDCO and MD of the Hiranandani Group addressing the audience. In his Keynote Address of the day he elaborated on the government’s initiatives to boost the logistics and warehousing in India. “E-commerce has been the biggest driver of warehousing demand and hub & spoke model is becoming popular especially after the Covid. China sets a great example for the sector to follow and technology will be the game changer for logistics and warehousing going forward.”
The motivating address was followed by the first panel discussion on, ‘Warehousing Sector Re-Defined By E-Commerce & 3PL’. The session was moderated by Shyam Arumugam, Managing Director, Industrial & Logistics Services, Colliers. The Speakers were - Aditya Sikri, President, IndoSpace, N Sridhar, CEO - Greenbase Industrial and Logistics Park, Rajat Garg, Head of Investments - ESR India, Rahul Pandit, CEO, Horizon Industrial Parks and Richard Theknath Chairman & MD, JetFrieght Logistics. The discussed the challenges facing the sector especially the land acquisition, rising cost of construction and transportation as well as what will be the factors that will contribute to the growth of still nascent sector.
The first Fireside Chat of the day revolved around the subject of Tier 2 Cities: The Warehousing Growth Hubs' and was chaired by Amit Goenka, MD & CEO, Nisus Finance Services. The speakers were Nirav Kothary, Executive Director, Godwitt Construction Pvt. Ltd and Pratiik Jalan, Director, Jalan Builders. The panelists agreed that Tier-2 cities are the future growth hubs for warehousing mostly because of the low land costs. However, Grade-A facilities remain a few in these micro markets.
The next panel discussion on ‘Risks & Rewards of Investing in India’s Warehousing Sector’ was chaired by Gautam Saraf - Managing Director -Mumbai & New Business- Cushman & Wakefield and the speakers were - Anay Shukla – Chief Customer Officer, Welspun One Logistics Parks, Ashish Joshi, Founder and CEO, Landmark Capital Advisors, Rahul Virmani, Director, Operations & Business Development, S. M Logistics & Warehousing Co P Limited, Sandeep Narayan Singh Deo, Senior Director & Head - Industrial Investment Services, Savills India and Tapan Bhatt - Head Of Investment - Ascendas Firstspace. The speakers were of the view that standard regulations are required for the sector and the approval times need a serious consideration from the government. They also suggested forming an industry body that can represent the sector and share concerns with the government agencies.
The event concluded with an exciting talk on "Scope for Value Added Services & Customization" . The moderator was Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO - ANAROCK Capital and speakers joining the conversation were Ashish Shah, Head Leasing & Business Development, Logos Property and Mitesh Kaul, Country Head – Integrated Services, Embassy Services Pvt Ltd. They shared that warehousing spaces are being customized to an extent for the occupiers and are even built with future provisions that may be required later. The awareness for health, worksheet and ESG though needed more awareness across the workforce of the sector.
The warehousing focused conclave organized by Realty+ brought out the finer nuances of the sector and shared with its audience the solutions for the present issues plaguing the sector as well as the reasons for the bright outlook and growth opportunities of the Indian warehousing market.
Watch the full event at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTschI-Xwoc
