Blackstone Group is set to acquire Embassy Industrial Parks at an enterprise valuation of US$ 700 million or Rs 5,250 crore from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group in the largest ever logistics and warehousing deal in India. The transaction is also the first large private equity investment of 2021. With this complete buyout transaction, Blackstone will become the country’s largest warehousing space landlord with over 40 million sq ft logistic parks in assets. The private equity firm, Blackstone Group is set to become the biggest retail assets owner too with the conclusion of its $1.5 billion deal with Prestige Group. Embassy Industrial Parks, a 70-30 three way partnership between Warburg Pincus and Embassy, has whole 22 million sq ft property, whereas Blackstone already has 18 million sq ft warehousing property in its portfolio by its stake buys in Hiranandanu Group and Allcargo Logistics’ warehousing property. Out of whole 22 million sq ft property of Embassy Industrial Parks, 3.5 million sq ft are constructed and leased to shoppers together with Amazon, Mahindra Logistics, FirstCry, Myntra, Delhivery and Rhenus Logistics amongst others. Embassy Industrial Parks has warehouses in Chakan in Pune, Sriperumbudur and Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Farrukhnagar and Bilaspur in Delhi-NCR, Kothur in Hyderabad—and owns land in Bangalore.

Tata Motors has announced its earnest commitment to the nation by providing refrigerated trucks for smooth movement of the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive. The company offers the widest range of trucks for end-to-end transportation of the vaccine. These vaccine trucks and vans are available on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal for purchase. To ensure reliable, safe and speedy transportation of the vaccines, the new range of vehicles have been designed and engineered as per the temperature, volume and weight requirements. The vehicles are available in a variety of capacities and tonnage points to suit the diverse needs, with 20 and 32 cuM refrigerated trucks in the Intermediate Commercial Vehicle (ICV) and Medium Commercial Vehicle (MCV) segments, respectively, with the availability of insulated vans in the ICV and MCV segments. Insulated vaccine vans in the Small Commercial Vehicle (SCV) and Pick-up (PU) range are also on offer, to facilitate last-mile and for rural transportation of vaccines. Girish Wagh, President – Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, says, “We are pleased to extend support as the nation readies to rollout the first phase of the vaccination, contributing for the safe and speedy distribution of vaccines across the country. By staying mindful of Government regulations and vaccination manufacturer needs, our range of superior products endeavour to contribute towards the vision of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat.” Tata Motors has tied up with leading reefer (refrigerated load body) manufacturers of the country, furthering its preparation of offering ready-to-use reefers and insulated vaccine vans. Over the years, Tata Motors has sold a substantial number of reefers to various cold chain customers, primarily constituting pharma companies. Combined with their specialised focus on applications concerning vaccine distribution, these vehicles …

DSV launches a new customs classification service for international businesses called DSV Customs Classification. With the new service, DSV offers to perform customs classification on behalf of businesses, ensuring compliance with regulations and easing customers’ administrative hassle. With all countries in the world actively involved in trade, it is time-consuming to understand and oversee all the requirements to legally ship to or source from a given country. With DSV Customs Classification, DSV ensures the information about the goods DSV classifies comply with local customs regulation. “To be able to export a simple screw to one country, you need to sometimes determine many specific details in a complex and laborious process,” says Robert Wisniewski, Customs Manager, International Shared Service Center, at DSV, adding, “With DSV Customs Classification, we provide a structured, straightforward process which can be used early in the company’s import and export planning activity.” The new DSV Customs Classification service is divided into seven steps, where customs information about the goods is analysed, classified and validated by DSV customs classification experts on behalf of the customer. When all customs documents are ready to be handed over to the relevant authorities, DSV shares this with the customer. “The DSV Customs Classification team consists of subject matter experts who have an in-depth understanding of global merchandise as well as the legal aspects of customs tariffs. They ensure that products are thoroughly analysed and matched with the relevant tariff numbers,” says Wisniewski. The risks associated with the use of the wrong classification ranges from simple errors and time spent to disputes with authorities that can take time, cost a lot of money and cause delays in deliveries. In serious cases, customers even …

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has handled 465,084, twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January, clocking a growth of 9.14% percent over the same month last year, as the domestic economy rebounds with the start of the year and easing of lockdown. The total traffic handled at JNPT during the month of January 2021 was 6.50 million tonnes a growth of 9.98 per cent as against 5.91 million tonnes handled in January 2020. This month’s traffic includes 0.82 million tonnes of Bulk Cargo as against 0.59 million tonnes in the same month of last year, an increase of 38.98 per cent. During the month, 134,713 MT of coastal cement cargo was handled at shallow water Berth, surpassing the earlier highest of 113,560 MT in the month of February 2019. The Centralised parking plaza at JNPT Handled 51,163 tractor trailers in January which carried 78,840 TEUs. In another major achievement of January 2021, JNPT inducted a tug boat “Daisy Star” having Bollard Pull of 60 MT that will provide assistance in handling vessels of various sizes, thereby providing more safety during handling larger ships. Also during the month, JNPT launched Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) at Port Operation Centre to monitor real-time Air Quality parameters. And became the First Major Port to sign Distribution Franchisee Agreement with MSEDCL. Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT said, “JNPT is trying to reach its pre-Covid performance levels and the numbers reaffirms that JNPT will maintain this growth trajectory. We have taken a number of initiatives that have helped the port in improving its numbers. JNPT is the first port where Port-led SEZ is evolving successfully and we are confident of attracting leading global companies …

With an aim to continue the delivery of real-time shipment data and innovative air cargo technology that powers key operations for the carrier’s air cargo business arm, Spice Xpress, SpiceJet has renewed its contract with SmartKargo. Since 2015, SpiceJet has utilized the SmartKargo platform to support and grow its domestic and international cargo business, including its Pharma Pro cold-chain services. The airline has operated more than 12,906 cargo flights since the lockdown began and carried around 1,04,800 tonnes of cargo. Most recently, the airline has partnered with a variety of airports and logistics entitles to safely and efficiently transport Covid-19 vaccines. Sanjiv Gupta, CEO of Spice Xpress, said, “For the past 5 years, SmartKargo technology has provided Spice Xpress with the advanced digital tools needed to quickly and effectively transform our cargo business. As a result, we have been able to further digitise our processes to support highly efficient air cargo operations, growth and improved experience for our customers. We are very pleased to extend the partnership and we look forward to continuing our growth and service to our communities; especially in the critical transport and delivery of medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and vaccines due to Covid-19.” Milind Tavshikar, Chief Executive Officer of QuantumID Technologies and SmartKargo said, “SmartKargo provides airlines with real-time shipment data and tracking, paperless e-AWBs; ease of booking for Cargo agents and customers with single- screen data entries; powerful pricing and rate-making via simplification; real-time capacity management: user-configurable real-time business intelligence and reporting; integrated Cargo Revenue accounting and more.”

Strategically located on Banur-Tepla road, NH205A, Safexpress has opened its state-of-the-art ultra-modern logistics park in Rajpura. Rajpura is a hub for various industries in India, and several well-known brands have their manufacturing plants located here. The development is on a land area of over 3.50 lakh square feet. The park is enabled with state-of-the-art transhipment and 3PL facilities. It will boost the industrial growth of this region. The park enables loading & unloading of over 100 vehicles simultaneously. Safexpress has taken special environment-friendly initiatives at the park by investing in rainwater harvesting system, developing a special green zone and using natural sunlight during the daytime to conserve energy. Supply chain & Logistics has a very crucial role to play in the development of numerous industries spread all over Punjab. Safexpress Logistics Park at Rajpura will help greatly in minimising the infrastructure gaps and serve the supply chain & logistics requirements of the entire Punjab region.

CEVA Logistics has successfully completed a full RORO charter for almost 4,000 cars between South Korea and Libya, working in close cooperation with its parent company, the CMA CGM Group. The two companies chartered a specialist car-carrying RORO vessel as part of a cross-selling initiative. CEVA Logistics and CMA CGM teams worked in tandem to source and charter a specialist vessel along with contracting and loading. The January 2021 movement follows on from a similar successful charter in December 2019 where an equivalent number of cars were also moved from Incheon Port in South Korea to Misurata in Libya. For this second automotive charter, the vessel Lake Wanaka arrived at Incheon in early January where CEVA Logistics Korea teams monitored and supervised loading operations to the port. Almost 4,000 cars, SUVs and small trucks were successfully loaded over a four-day period despite difficult weather conditions including snow. In 2019, South Korea exported some 460,000 used cars overseas– primarily to the Middle East and Africa. In recent months, many exporters in Korea have expressed concern about limited transport options. Thus, CEVA Logistics and CMA CGM worked in close collaboration to offer pure car exporters in the country a specialist vessel as well as a local guarantee insurance company to eliminate any credit issues. Both teams also worked very closely with the Incheon Port Authority and those in Libya to ensure smooth port operations including vessel berthing and car loading, stowing and lashing and then timely unloading operations at destination. Do Young Kim Managing Director Korea, says CEVA Logistics, “Our extensive capabilities in the automotive industry were on full show with this RORO charter and the smooth collaboration with our colleagues at …

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released the data for global airfreight markets showing that demand for air cargo decreased by 10.6% in 2020, compared to 2019. This was the largest drop in year-on-year demand since IATA started to monitor cargo performance in 1990, outpacing the 6% fall in global trade in goods. Global demand in 2020, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs*), was 10.6% below 2019 levels (-11.8% for international operations). Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), shrank by 23.3% in 2020 ( 24.1% for international operations) compared to 2019. This was more than double the contraction in demand. Due to the lack of available capacity, cargo load factors rose 7.7% in 2020. This contributed to increased yields and revenues, providing support to airlines and some long-haul passenger services in the face of collapsed passenger revenues. Improvements towards yearend were demonstrated in December when global demand was 0.5% below previous-year levels (-2.3% for international operations). Global capacity was 17.7% below previous-year levels ( 20.6% for international operations). That is much deeper than the contraction in demand, indicating the continuing and severe capacity crunch. With the stalling of the recovery in passenger markets, there is no end in sight for the capacity crunch. “Air cargo is surviving the crisis in better shape than the passenger side of the business. For many airlines, 2020 saw air cargo become a vital source of revenues, despite weakened demand. But with much of the passenger fleet grounded, meeting demand without belly capacity continues to be an enormous challenge. And, as countries strengthen travel restrictions in the face of new coronavirus variants, it is difficult to see improvements in passenger demand or the …

In order to accelerate its digital transformation goals, Tata Steel BSL partners with FarEye. With the aim to improve in-plant and in-transit visibility, optimise transportation costs, mitigate delivery delays, reduce loading times and slash manual dependencies, FarEye is on-boarded to ensure intelligent management of logistics that will reduce turnaround-time, help risk mitigation, end-to-end transportation visibility, and delivery efficiency. Tata Steel BSL is now achieving high levels of operational excellence via efficient SLA (Service Level Agreement) adherence, Key Performance Indicator benchmarking, bottleneck mitigation, and data-driven business risk calculations. The steel manufacturer now predicts estimated time of arrival with absolute precision, manages exceptions and risks proactively, and has gained end-to-end real-time visibility of ground-level operations. Subrata Basak, Chief Logistics Officer, Tata Steel BSL says, “In this volatile situation in the world, to help us sustain our leadership position, we have made many interventions in our operation process. Due to COVID-19, it was of paramount importance to reduce the man-to-man interactions. Through digitalization, our processes are more agile to meet the ever-changing needs of the supply chain. It also helped to maintain the social distancing norms and touch-free operations helped us reap benefits in terms of performance improvements and turnaround time reduction of vehicles in the plant.” Real-time tracking keeps the business associates posted on their shipments and ensures timely delivery of the same, bringing customer delight. AI and ML have improved our predictive and information analyzing capabilities through predicting the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), In-transit Performance, Loading and Unloading TAT (Turn-around Time), and our Allocation & Placement delays. It has had a compounded effect that can be scaled up effectively for all locations. This integrated platform through its various modules provides …

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in shipping and logistics has announced the launch of CMA CGM – GatewayRail PYTHON Train Service on February 1, 2021 on Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from New Kishangarh Junction, Rajasthan. The two Double stack ‘Ship to Rail’ dedicated trains, one leaving from Mundra and the other from Pipavav, were clubbed at New Kishangarh Junction for the onward journey on the WDFC to New Ateli Junction and were split from there for GatewayRail’s Inland Container Depot – Gurugram (Garhi Harsaru). Western DFC will benefit industries in Gurgaon, Manesar, Rewari, Neemrana industrial areas of Haryana and Rajasthan and ensure faster rail transportation of international cargo between the National Capital Region and Mundra, as well as Port Pipavav ports in the state of Gujarat. On the achievement, Atit Mahajan, MD, CMA CGM India said, “The Python Rail service is one of the premier service and will be a game changer in the industry. This service is being run in the dedicated freight corridor and will significantly reduce the transit time. It will increase our cargo capacity and will also enhance our intermodal offerings to our customers. The Western dedicated freight corridor is one of the visionary projects of the Government of India and it surely will boost the existing intermodal infrastructure in the country.”