The Transport Corporation of India, a leading logistics player, plans to invest ₹200–250 crore in Capex annually to boost capacity for the next four years. The logistics company reported revenue of ₹807 crore for the first quarter of FY23.
“Over the next three to four years, we need to build and upgrade a significant amount of capacity. And this capex would lead to a 15-20 per cent increase in the top line and subsequent bottom line,” said Vineet Agarwal, Managing Director of TCI.
For this year too, the logistic company has invested ₹200–250 crore, which has been majorly deployed into the acquisition of a new ship, containers, working assets, and construction of warehouses. Agarwal said, “These are ships that we typically buy in the second-hand market from overseas. We are hopeful that in Q4 we will be able to get the ship.”
Festival demand
Agrawal stated that in general, the market sentiment looks strong, and the company anticipates rapid growth both in the upcoming quarter and moving beyond. “Although there is some inflationary pressure in some markets, it is not particularly severe, so this holiday season’s demand is still pretty strong,” he added.
According to the company, this season, consumer items, automobiles, and textiles are all moving faster. “We are currently experiencing high demand across the country, some of which is also the pent-up demand from Covid,” he said.
Roadmap
The company started its cold chain solutions business a few years ago and, about a year ago, entered into a joint venture with Mitsui & Co. “We see a growth opportunity in the cold chain business as a result of changing customer patterns and the expansion of industries like quick service restaurants, fruits and vegetables, and pharmaceuticals.”
In addition to the annual CAPEX, in the next four years, TCI expects to see 10–15 per cent growth in each category, both on the top line and on the bottom line; plans to hire 500–700 new people each year; and, in general, plans to expand across many categories in all of the markets in which it is currently present. At present, it has a little over 4,000 employees.
TCI has more than 1,000 offices spread across the country, and its product offering includes freight, cold chain solutions, seaways, chemical logistics solutions, express, and more. Currently, it has 13 million square feet of warehouse space under its ownership.