DP World’s ICBP near city operational

CHENNAI: DP World, on Wednesday, announced the commencement of its free trade warehouse zone (FTWZ) operations at its integrated Chennai business park (ICBP) in Ponneri, near here.

This is the Dubai-based global entity’s second FTWZ in India on 125 acres, apart from the one functioning in Mumbai (85 acres) and the soon-to-be-operational unit in Cochin (10 acres), inside the port premises. The ICBP, spread over 6 lakh sq ft, has a potential to grow to 2 million sq ft. Strategically positioned within a 40-km radius of key ports, including Kattupalli (~15km), Ennore (~11km), and Chennai (~27km), ICBP enjoys convenient access to Chennai airport (~40km), streamlining cargo transportation to and from the city, said Ranjit Ray, VP, economic zones Middle East, North Africa, and Subcontinent, DP World, as he gave an overview of being the largest FTWZ developer and operator in the country. Equipped with a comprehensive and flexible range of storage solutions, the ICBP has four warehouses offering a capacity to accommodate 17,000 pallet positions, enabling the handling of specialised and uneven shaped cargo.

Ray said the business was split into four verticals – logistics, parks and economic zones, ports and terminals and marine services. An investment of Rs 1,700 crore has been earmarked for the economic zone vertical in India over a five-year horizon to develop 4.2 million sq ft world-class warehousing infrastructure. “About 40-45 per cent of the capex has been used so far,” he said.

Buoyed by the positive demand in TN, he said the occupancy since its formal start in October 2023, is around 12-15 per cent with a diverse cargo including electronics, industrial engineering, FMCG, cosmetics and general goods (such as broom). Efforts are on to attract pharma and other sector customers too, he said, noting that DP World Chennai Economic zone aims to have 70-75 per cent occupancy by end of this fiscal year.

TN, Ray said, is the second largest economic hub and the most industrialised state in the country offering tremendous scope for export and import. Asia and Africa will be the two continents to focus for the global supply chain major.