DHL to expand Indian operations

INTEGRATOR DHL is looking to extend its air capacity and warehouse facilities in India.

The Express business in India, currently valued at US$700-800 million, is growing at 15-16 per cent each year.

“We aim to grow at least two per cent ahead of the market,” RS Subramanian, country manager, DHL Express, India, comments. “To achieve this growth in India, our focus will be around key areas such as investments in air capacity, facilities, improving our service quality touch points, distribution with a focused reach and industry specific product innovations.”

As part of its plans DHL will be expanding its air capacity in other cities. In October last year, DHL launched a 777F service between Bangalore and Leipzig (Germany), in response to the growing air cargo demand into and out of south India.

The integrator will construct its second free trade warehousing zone (FTWZ) in Mumbai and a third in Delhi, shortly.

In 2010, DHL Global Forwarding launched its first FTWZ in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. DHL invested $10 million in the zone, which offers clients warehousing palletised, non-palletised, cold storage, odd dimension and handling of special and sensitive cargo.