DHL Supply Chain is to invest €500 million in India over the next five years to increase its warehousing capacity and workforce and in sustainability initiatives. It plans to own and operate wholly-owned large multi-client sites in India, adding 12 million sq ft of warehousing space to its existing portfolio. 

The capacity will be targeted on sectors such as e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering, manufacturing and automotive and will include technology including robots and intelligent process automation.

The new sites will be in major cities such as Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, the National Capital Region and Pune while multi-client sites are being built in fast-growing state capitals and tier two cities such as Ambala, Baddi, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Sanand, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Hosur, and Visakhapatnam.

DHL Supply Chain India will also open two new business support centers in Bangalore and Pune within the next 12-18 months, adding to the three it currently operates in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai. They provide 24-hour services including domestic and international transport control towers, business analytics to support decision-making and freight bill audit payment.

DHL Supply Chain also plans to double its workforce to 25,000 employees by 2025 and is setting up skill development and resourcing centres to induct and train employees. The first has been opened in Bangalore with more to follow in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

It will convert its entire intra-city fleet to green fuel or battery electric by 2025 with the entire two-wheeler fleet due to be renewed by the end of 2022. All new sites will have green features, including solar panels for electricity, rainwater harvesting, LED lights and smart meters.

DHL Supply Chain chief executive, Oscar de Bok, said: “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. As a dynamic, stable and fast-growing economy, the Indian nation plays a key role for the global economy.”

“With a rich pool full of highly qualified young talents and innovative digital entrepreneurs India is a favourite hub for our global contract logistics business in DHL Supply Chain and one of our priority markets.”

Managing director of DHL Supply Chain India , Vikas Anand, added: “Building up large multi-client sites with efficient end-to-end transport solutions along with value-added services run by highly skilled employees allows us to maximize operational efficiency and puts us in a strong position to scale according to what our customers need, across various sectors. As one of the best places to work in India, we will continue to invest in our people, to deliver the best service quality to our customers.”

Asia Pacific currently accounts for about 15% of DHL Supply Chain’s global revenue but is among the fastest growing regions, with India being a key contributor to this growth. The Indian logistics market, worth over US$200 billion now, is expected to grow at about 10% per year in the next five years to reach around US$330 billion.

The government has also increased efforts to improve the country’s logistics performance and boost trade. Expenditure on logistics is expected to reach US$500 billion annually by 2025.