DHL Supply Chain has announced an investment of €500 million (US$500 million) in India over the next five years aiming to grow its warehousing capacity, workforce and sustainability initiatives in the country.
With this investment, DHL will own and operate wholly-owned large multi-client sites in India, adding 12 million square feet (1.11 million square metres) of warehousing space to the company’s existing portfolio.
The increased warehousing capacity is targeted to cater to growing sectors such as e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering and manufacturing as well as automotive, according to DHL’s statement.
These warehouses will be enabled with digital technology solutions including Assisted Picking Robots, Indoor Robotic Transport, Intelligent Process Automation, Wearable Devices, Voice Picking, Inventory Management Robots and Algorithmic Optimizations.
“Despite the current, economic and geopolitical uncertainties in the world, we see enormous growth potential in the Asia Pacific region, with India making a significant contribution,” commented CEO of DHL Supply Chain, Oscar de Bok, who went on to point out that India’s investment-friendly and entrepreneurial environment makes the country a preferred place for Deutsche Post DHL Group to accelerate its investments.
DHL Supply Chain India will add capacity in wholly-owned DHL multi-client sites in key metro cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR) and Pune. Furthermore, multi-client sites are being built in other cities such as Ambala, Baddi, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Sanand, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Hosur, and Visakhapatnam.
Moreover, DHL Supply Chain India will open two new Business Support Centers (BSC) in Bangalore and Pune within the next 12-18 months to support customer demand. Currently, the company runs three Business Support Centers (BSC) in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai.
