Arshiya Int’l lines up Rs 350 crore play

MUMBAI: Arshiya International, a supply chain management and logistics infrastructure company, will raise Rs 350 crore to invest in 3 free trade warehousing (FTW) zones and a dedicated rail logistics service.

Ajay Mittal, managing director of Arshiya International, said, “We have received shareholders approval to raise Rs 350 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) to invest in expanding our business operations in and outside the country.”

Mittal said the Rs 350 crore is a part of the total Rs 3,000 crore, which the company plans to invest in strengthening its presence in the logistics infrastructure sector over five years.

He said the company will use the funds to develop two FTW zones in India and one in Sohar, Oman over two years. “The first warehousing zone will come up near Mumbai and the second in Noida,” he said. The projects will be developed by a 100% subsidiary-Arshiya Logistics Limited, he said.

Mittal said the first FTW zone will come up between the JNPT port, the Revas port and the proposed international airport coming up at Panvel in Navi Mumbai. “The site will give us and our customers the advantage of cost-saving on transhipment activities and provide them the strategic advantage of being situated close to one of the largest ports in India,” he said.

He said the proposed land will be spread over 170 acres, most of which has already been acquired. “We have already received an in-principle approval for the project and are currently preparing a detail project report for the site. In the meantime, we will also raise the amount required to fuel the project,” he said. The entire process will take two months before the company can actually focus on a zero date to start construction.

Arshiya International has proposed to build its second FTW zone near New Delhi and will finalise the exact location
next week. The third zone, proposed in Oman, will take sometime. “All the three free trade warehouses will accompany a container freight station (CFS) which will facilitate import and export of cargo” he said.

Mittal said the company will develop its own dedicated rail logistics service, wherein it will use the infrastructure of the Railways ministry and its own rakes to ferry cargo between its warehouses in the West and the North FTW zones.

“Arshiya has a target to set up a total of six warehouses in the next five years. Out of these, one will be overseas and five other in different regions of India. This will help us cover the complete geography of the country,” he said.

The company recently got an approval from the commerce ministry, department of commerce, infrastructure division to set up a CFS near the JNPT Port.

Arshiya International has offices across India, Singapore, Hong Kong Australia, Dubai, Qatar, Oman and the United States. It provides knowledge-driven solutions specifically focused on the areas of supply chain management and logistics infrastructure.