Gati to invest 100 million Dollars for expansion

Bangalore, Jun 15 (UNI) Gati, one of the leading player in the Indian logistic services, has planned to invest over US 100 Million Dollar by 2009 to strengthen its centers across the country, Company Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mahendra Agarwal said today.

Addressing a press conference after inaugurating of Gati's mechantronic Express Distribution Center (EDC), the first of its kind in the country, he said that the company has set a target to become a Rs 1000 crore company by 2009.

Outlining the features of mechatronic EDC, Mr Agarwal said that the concept goes beyond providing vanilla storage solution and focuses on enabling companies to manage inventories at multiple locations from their offices itself and provides them with global supply visibility and maximum efficiency for competitive advantage.

The benefit of this would be a differentiating factor for pharmaceutical, textiles, automotive, engineering, electronics, consumer goods and other companies confronted by supply chain management challenges.

Terming that Bangalore has always been an important strategic location for Gati in terms of business and connectivity, Mr Agarwal said that the best-in class facility that was inaugurated today will enable all segments of trade and industry to expand their business to every hook and corner on time.

He said that the company has planned to invest over US 100 Million Dollar in the next three years in setting up similar EDC's and re-engineering of technology and network of its network.

Gati's widest surface network covers 594 out of 602 districts in the country to provide its customers the edge penetrating new and emerging markets. Gati has the largest air network due to its alliance with Indian Airlines besides having its operations in SAARC countries and the Asia-Pacific region and offering India-centric distribution solutions, he said.

He also informed that Gati has plans to add another One million Sqft of EDC space in the next 2 years resulting in a total of 2 million sq ft space in all major locations in India. The Express Distribution Centers would be located at in Delhi, Lucknow, Gaziabad, Patna, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Panaji, Ranchi and Bhubhaneshwar. The company's super hub will be located at Nagpur Central Distribution centre which will command the movement of cargo across the country, he added.

Mr Agarwal said that the total domestic market of surface cargo, air cargo, courier, warehousing, trucking solutions was about Rs 4000 crore and Gati enjoys of about 9 per cent share offering a comprehensive multi-model distribution services to its clients as well as niche value additions including third-party logistics and warehousing solutions. The industry has been growing at a healthy rate of 20 per cent per annum and was expected to double its current market size in less than five years.

UNI