Welspun One signs Rs 9-bn MoU with Maharashtra Govt for its 110-acre warehousing project in Bhiwandi.

Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) has launched its maiden 110 acre Grade-A warehousing park with a leasable area of 3.2 million sq ft and an estimated investment of Rs 9 billion (US$ 120 million) in Bhiwandi – a key warehousing market in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), India’s largest consumption centre. WOLP signed an MoU for its Bhiwandi project with the Government of Maharashtra under the state's Magnetic Maharashtra initiative, presided over by Minister of Industries Subhash Desai. Welspun One's maiden 110 acre Grade-A warehousing park with a leasable area of 3.2 million sq ft will generate over 2,700 job opportunities. With pre-construction planning and design already in place, the park will be operational by Q4 of 2021. Designed to global standards and Green Building Certification requirements, the project is positioned to become a key asset in the hub of Mumbai’s warehousing market. By pioneering innovative infrastructure and embracing best-in-class norms, this development is acclaimed to be one of India’s first logistics parks that is equipped for COVID-19 and other such events that could affect park operations. “We are very excited to announce our marquee project in Bhiwandi, which has excellent demand-supply dynamics due to robust demand, limited supply and low vacancy. Our 110-acre warehousing development project will be a prime addition to the area. This development has further cemented our focus in the warehousing sector. We are optimistic and view this as one of the only asset classes, especially in the current context, which provides both attractive development returns and stable long-term yields,” says BK Goenka, Chairman, Welspun Group. Echoing the sentiment, Anshul Singhal, Managing Director, Welspun One, says, “We have a customer-first approach in everything we do. Owing to our clear understanding of our customers’ dynamically evolving logistical needs, our park in Bhiwandi is well suited to meet the requirements of a large number of end-users including e-commerce, 3PL, FMCG/FMCD, modern retail, pharma and thus far has been very well received by large occupiers. We are also seeing significant interest from international and private equity investors, both at the project and overall platform level; due to the fact that we are launching our first project in a short span of time since inception while parallelly building a robust team that can deliver Grade-A projects across India.” The promoter’s equity obligations towards the project have been met in the form of land, the market value of which is estimated to be Rs 3.50 billion.  The project is being developed in phases with the necessary financing already tied-up in principal, alongside a construction loan which will be converted into a ‘Lease Rental Discounting’ (LRD) facility on completion of each phase. Park features and facilitiesStrategically located in close proximity to the key market of MMR – India’s economic capital and largest consumption centre which boasts of a population of approximately 26 million – Welspun One’s Bhiwandi project enjoys excellent connectivity to Mumbai-Nashik National Highway (NH3), JNPT (Nhava Sheva) Port, Mumbai’s International and Domestic Airport and is also in close vicinity of other major production hubs such as Thane. The park lends itself to smaller, independent and exclusive campuses within the larger facility. Each warehouse has been designed to be both, modular and to accommodate varied customer requirements. Designed by global logistics experts, the park’s traffic planning maximises throughput efficiency. Advanced features like park management and maintenance on a tech-enabled platform, IoT driven traffic management system to minimise travel distance and trucks with RIFD tags to predetermine directions and docking will be integrated. Additionally, there will be provisions for various utility services like a healthcare centre, 24/7 surveillance, fire prevention and fire-fighting equipment, resting areas for drivers, LED lighting, low-maintenance roof with skylight and ample parking space for heavy as well as personal vehicles. The park will also be built on key sustainability features such as solar panels for common facilities to provide tenants with an alternative source of power, landscape strategies to minimise water consumption, rainwater harvesting systems, electrically operated doors and a sewage treatment plant of suitable capacity. Other COVID-19 ready park features include contactless verification for entry/exit of people and vehicles, mandatory health declaration on an app, ultraviolet disinfection, and other automated safety and hygiene checks. The park will rely on software, sensors and digital interfaces to streamline compliances. Welspun One is also building the necessary infrastructure to support a digitised world while embracing a human-centric approach.