Warehousing demand to hit all-time high by year-end: experts

Despite rising raw material costs and global inflationary pressures, demand from consumers has led to a rapid V-shaped recovery with double-digit growth in the warehousing sector. The demand, in fact, is reach all-time highs by the end of the year, say experts. The first three quarters of this calendar year saw an all-time high net absorption of 28 million sq ft of warehousing space. In comparison, net absorption declined by 12 million sq ft during the pandemic year from pre-pandemic levels. “A yearly growth of 48 per cent was seen in 2019 with net absorption of about 25 million sq ft, while in the pandemic year of 2020, the net absorption in the first three quarters dropped to 13 million sq ft,” said Chandranath Dey, head of Operations, Logistics & Industrial, JLL India. However, the sector grew by 45 per cent in the first nine months of this calendar year. Also, net absorption could reach an all-time high of 43 million sq ft by 2022-end as businesses open up and consumer demand improves, he added. With the integration of technology and digitalisation, it has become much easier to maintain these facilities and streamline operations, causing a boom in the entire logistics sector, said Harsh V Bansal, Convenor, CII Delhi Sub-committee on Real Estate, Urban Development and Infrastructure. See also: Adani Group plans to build six more MMLPs over the next two yearsChetak Logistics green warehouse to serve Tata Motors in Pune