CARGOCONNECT-JUNE2026 - Flipbook - Page 58
SPECIAL FEATURE : MEGA LOGISTICS CLUSTERS
Future market growth
will increasingly
abandon isolated
city-based expansion,
moving firmly towards
robust transport
corridors that can
handle heavy industrial
integration.
MANOJ SHARMA
DIRECTOR,
SILIGURI REALESTATE AND
HIMALAYAN REALTY
last-mile delivery, all while balancing green building
certi昀椀cations, EV charging infrastructure, and optimised
space utilisation.
This demand for speed requires a completely new
spatial arrangement on the ground. Agrawal points
out that the rise of q-com has substantially bifurcated
development models. There is now a growing demand
for smaller urban ful昀椀lment centres and 昀氀exible warehousing spaces closer to dense consumption clusters,
even as larger regional hubs continue to support bulk
inventory aggregation. He notes that developers must
create hybrid ecosystems that combine these two layers, incorporating 昀氀exible layouts, higher automation
readiness, integrated driver facilities, and temporary
seasonal storage solutions. At his own developments in
Raipur, this shift is already a tangible reality, driving
clear demand for seasonal over昀氀ow storage, dark store
support within city locations, shared o昀케ce infrastructure,
and integrated driver amenities.
Highlighting how occupier expectations themselves are rapidly evolving, Sumisławski points out
58 | CARGOCONNECT JUNE 2026
that e-commerce companies and 3PL providers are
increasingly driving demand for institutional-grade
warehousing infrastructure capable of supporting
higher operational e昀케ciency, scalability, compliance, and
sustainability standards. According to him, occupiers
are now seeking future-ready facilities featuring higher
clear heights, e昀케cient dock con昀椀gurations, stronger
昀氀oor load capacities, and advanced safety infrastructure
that can support faster cargo movement and supply
chain productivity. This growing preference for globally benchmarked Grade A infrastructure is steadily
accelerating the development of large integrated logistics
parks across key industrial and consumption corridors.
From a network architecture standpoint, Bhardwaj
believes q-com has fundamentally bifurcated India’s
warehousing strategy into two parallel logistics layers.
On one side are large-format national and regional
distribution hubs focussed on inventory e昀케ciency,
scale economics, and corridor-led cost optimisation. On
the other hand, an entirely new hyperlocal ful昀椀lment
layer is rapidly emerging to support same-day and
instant delivery models. Bhardwaj explains that this
transition is signi昀椀cantly altering warehouse design
priorities, with occupiers increasingly demanding
smaller modules, higher throughput per square foot,
mezzanine-heavy infrastructure, automation-ready
facilities, dark stores, and MFCs located either within
or very close to urban consumption centres. In short,
he says, warehousing assets are steadily shifting from
storage-led models toward velocity-driven infrastructure where dock e昀케ciency, sortation capability, rider
movement, and rapid inventory flow have become
central operational priorities.
Echoing similar sentiments, Chadha mentions that
changing consumer expectations are forcing companies
to completely rethink both warehouse scale and location
strategy. He believes that the traditional model of operating one large warehouse outside the city is no longer
su昀케cient in an era where consumers increasingly expect
deliveries within hours rather than days. According to
Sandeep, businesses now require a layered logistics
structure comprising large inventory hubs, mid-sized
regional facilities, and smaller urban ful昀椀lment centres
capable of supporting rapid delivery cycles.
He further draws attention towards modern Grade
A warehouses which are increasingly being designed
not simply for storage, but for speed and operational
e昀케ciency. Features such as improved truck circulation,
30
crore sq ft
current national Grade
A warehousing stock
