Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) is planning to invest over Rs 900 crore to develop a 110-acre warehousing park in Bhiwandi near Mumbai as it bets on the warehousing and logistics sector, an asset class that’s set to recover the fastest post Covid-19 pandemic.
The company’s maiden project with a leasable area of 3.2 million sq ft is located on a contiguous land parcel fully owned by the promoters of Welspun Group, the Goenkas.
The integrated fund, asset, and development management company has entered into a pact with the government of Maharashtra for this project and the necessary approvals are being sought under the Integrated Logistics Parks (ILP) policy.
“This development has further cemented our focus in the warehousing sector. We are optimistic and view this as one of the only asset classes, especially in the current context, which provides both attractive development returns and stable long-term yields,” said B.K. Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group.
According to the company, this will be the first logistics parks equipped for Covid-19 and other such events that could affect operations.
With pre-construction planning and design already in place, the park is expected to be operational by October-December 2021.
“Our park in Bhiwandi is well suited to meet the requirements of a large number of end users including e-commerce, third party logistics (3PL), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and fast moving consumer durables (FMCD), modern retail, pharmaceutical and thus far has been very well received by large occupiers,” said Anshul Singhal, Managing Director, Welspun One.
According to Singhal, the company is witnessing significant interest from international and private equity investors, both at the project and overall platform level.
The promoter’s equity obligations towards the project have been met in the form of land, the market value of which is estimated to be Rs 350 crore.
The project is being developed in phases with the necessary financing already tied-up in principle, alongside a construction loan which will be converted into a lease rental discounting facility on completion of each phase.
The upcoming development will have Covid19 ready features. This development is expected to create an upwards of 2,700 multi-level job opportunities.
The project is located in close proximity to the key market of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) – India’s largest consumption centre with a population of around 2.6 crore.
It has connectivity to Mumbai-Nashik National Highway (NH3), JNPT (Nhava Sheva) Port, Mumbai’s International and Domestic Airport and is also in close vicinity of other major production hubs such as Thane, the company said.
Apart from this project, the company is planning to develop grade A warehousing parks spread over 30-100 acre each across the country.
In December 2019, Welspun group promoters acquired a majority stake in One Industrial Space that was founded last year by Anshul Singhal and post acquisition the company was rebranded as Welspun One Logistics Parks.
The company is open to buying agricultural and non-agricultural lands across India while executing deals in various formats such as outright land buyouts, joint ventures, joint development and development management.
