CARGOCONNECT-JUNE2026 - Flipbook - Page 57
MEGA LOGISTICS CLUSTERS : SPECIAL FEATURE
Warehousing assets
are steadily shifting
toward velocity-driven
infrastructure where
dock efficiency,
sortation capability,
rider movement, and
rapid inventory flow
have become central
operational priorities.
PANKAJ KUMAR BHARDWAJ
BUSINESS HEAD,
ADANI AGRI LOGISTICS AND
WAREHOUSING
Businesses are instinctively gravitating toward regions
where infrastructure maturity, labour availability,
connectivity, and industrial ecosystems are already well
established. This explains why dominant warehousing
hubs such as Chennai, Mumbai, NCR, Bengaluru, Pune,
and Hyderabad continue to attract a disproportionate
share of occupier demand.
According to Chadha, this concentration initially
delivers signi昀椀cant supply chain advantages by creating dense logistics ecosystems where transportation
networks, service providers, warehousing infrastructure,
and ancillary operations function in close coordination.
Such clustering improves cargo movement e昀케ciency,
enhances scalability, and allows occupiers to bene昀椀t
from stronger operational ecosystems. However, he
cautions that beyond a certain threshold, these very
advantages can begin to reverse themselves. According
to him, as warehousing density intensi昀椀es within a
limited geography, challenges such as rising land prices,
infrastructure congestion, slower truck movement,
labour pressure, and increasing operational costs start
becoming more visible across mature logistics markets.
Chadha points out that markets such as Bhiwandi,
Oragadam, and parts of NCR are already beginning
to experience some of these pressures, particularly
in terms of congestion and infrastructure stress. As
a result, he believes the future growth trajectory of
India’s warehousing sector may increasingly move
toward a hub-and-spoke model, where core mega
clusters continue functioning as dominant logistics
anchors while nearby satellite locations and peripheral
micro-markets gradually emerge to absorb spillover
demand and support future expansion. In his view,
warehousing growth will no longer remain con昀椀ned
to a single logistics pocket but will increasingly spread
across adjoining infrastructure corridors and secondary
nodes capable of o昀昀ering both connectivity and cost
e昀케ciencies simultaneously.
E-commerce and Modern Trade:
Catalysts Fuelling This Shift
The rapid rise of e-commerce, combined with the explosive growth of q-com and same-day delivery expectations,
is completely rewriting the rules of distribution and
consequently, industrial real-estate. No longer seen as
simple, static storage properties located on the fringes
of major cities, modern warehousing assets are being
forced to transform into dynamic, high-speed execution
engines. As consumer expectations shift from days
to hours, and in some cases to minutes, the physical
structure, core technical speci昀椀cations, and location
strategies of Grade A logistics parks are undergoing
an unprecedented structural overhaul.
This pressure is reshaping the foundational purpose
of modern logistics spaces. Re昀氀ecting on this operational
shift, Soumik Dutta, Head of Marketing & Business
Development, Apeejay Real Estate, observes that
logistics parks are no longer being developed merely
as storage facilities. Instead, they are evolving into
technology-driven ful昀椀lment ecosystems designed for
speed, 昀氀exibility, and scalability. To meet accelerated
delivery expectations, modern parks are increasingly
incorporating automation, AI-driven inventory management, dark stores, Micro-Ful昀椀lment Centres (MFCs), and
advanced transportation integration. Dutta points out
that strategic locations near urban consumption hubs
and multimodal connectivity have become absolutely
critical to support faster turnaround times and e昀케cient
75%
demand concentrated
within thirteen major
logistics market clusters
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