Balmer Lawrie & Co Ltd has planned around ₹400 crore capital expenditure in the next two to three years in its logistics business vertical.

Prabal Basu, CMD, told reporters after its AGM here that the proposed multi-modal logistic hub at Visakhapatnam would see an investment of around ₹220 crore and ₹165 crore for setting up seven temperature-controlled warehouses across the country.

Construction work for the logistics hub has begun in July and is expected to be ready by next July.

The hub, which is being set up through a 60:40 joint venture with the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, will have a container freight station, warehouses including cold storages and railway sidings.

VPT has provided 53.02 acres on lease as its equity in the joint venture – Visakhapatnam Port Logistics Park Ltd. Balmer Lawrie will make cash investment and manage the project. The company’s plan to set up temperature-controlled warehouses has been divided into two phases.

In the first phase, one cold storage each is being set up in Hyderabad, Mumbai and the National Capital Region.

In the second phase, four such cold storages would be set up. Land has also been acquired for the Mumbai and NCR cold chain projects.

“During 2015-16, we have planned investment worth ₹100 crore,” Basu said.

Once operational, it would bring in annual revenue worth ₹30-40 crore, he explained.

Meanwhile, he said that the company has merged its logistics infrastructure and logistic services businesses into one to draw on synergy and saving costs.

“This happened in August,” he said.

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