Flipkart To Set Up Biggest 100 Acre Logistics Park In Bengaluru
Flipkart To Set Up Biggest 100 Acre Logistics Park In Bengaluru

India largest online retailer Flipkart is looking for a 100 acre plot on the outskirts of Bengaluru, as the company plans to set up a logistics park spanned over 4.5 million square feet, hoping to centralize the company’s operations.

This logistics park, one-third of which would be up and running by mid-2019 will help Flipkart consolidate its fulfilment, sorting and transport centres as the company bets big on logistics and supply chain as a way to battle it out with rival Amazon.

Amitesh Jha, the head of the company’s logistics arm, eKart said, “Supply chain and logistics are long-term bets with consolidation of warehouses in the key locations as a way forward. We are looking at the next 10 years as we build multiple centres for various categories within the logistics park.”

Jha said Bengaluru being the centre of south India for ecommerce business, the company will need a large piece of land in this location. “The logistics park will consist of multiple fulfilment centres and warehouses, effectively catering to all kinds of products and shipments.”

Flipkart’s plan to consolidate its warehouses and supply chain is part of a larger phenomenon in the country following the implementation of goods and services tax (GST). The new tax that subsumes various central and state levies allows companies to set up warehouses as per demand, instead of taking tax saving as the main criterion.

Manish Saigal, managing director at logistics consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal said, “Post-GST, everyone, especially the larger consumer companies like (those in) FMCG, pharma, and consumer durables have been looking at consolidating their entire distribution and supply-chain network. Earlier if they were operating through small-time warehouses or storage points in different states to avoid paying CST, now they can do the same through 3-4 large logistics centres.”

Other e-commerce giants have fortified their logistics arm like The Future Group has a large logistics park located in Nagpur, while Flipkart’s top rival, Amazon, launched one of its biggest fulfilment centres in Hyderabad with other supplementary storage centres within the city limits. The Seattle-headquartered company also recently added 15 fulfilment centres to ramp up grocery supplies through Amazon Now.

 
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