Stellar Value lines up 30,000-cr capex

Mumbai: Consumer supply-chain firm Steller Value Solutions is setting up 200 integrated logistics parks in 50-million sft space across 21 major cities with an investment commitment of Rs30,000 crore in 4-5 years, a top official of the company said. The new facilities will cater to the increased demand for warehousing as customers are expecting deliveries of their shipments at the drop of a hat, its Chairman and Managing Director Anshuman Singh said.

The company, which already has 40 such facilities across the country, and opened earlier this week its first warehousing hub in Punjab, is also aiming to achieve Rs10,000 crore topline by FY 2026 on the back of an expected higher economic growth, more business shifting to organised sector from unorganised players and new-age economy as well as e-commerce boom, he said.

Spread across 6-lakh sq ft space and strategically located on Banur-Tepla Road, the new warehousing infrastructure offers built-to-suit options, catering to both domestic and multinational companies from sectors such as FMCG, pharmaceutical, fashion, retail and e-commerce, consumer durables, food, engineering, automotive and various industrial sectors.

"The warehousing hub in Punjab, which will be operational in the next 90 days, is part of our plans to offer high-end, very large infrastructure consisting of 50 million sq ft of grade A+ warehouse in 21 major cities across 200 integrated logistics parks in the country, connected with 50,000 trucks in 3-4 years," Singh told PTI in an interaction.

"This 50 million sq ft grade A+ infrastructure combined with 50,000 Grade A+ transportations systems will require an investment of Rs 30,000 crore," he said. This investment works along with world-class technology, solution and designing, which help in bringing down both costs and time (for deliveries), he said. Stating that Rs 30,000 crore is the Stellar Value Chains' "committed investment," he said most of this would come from developers and vendor partners.

He said the company is open to raise funds from all available instruments, including debt, equity as well as through public listing, adding: "we have, however, not yet firmed up any plan".

"The way companies are hitting the bourses, this option (getting listed) is also into our consideration. It will, however, not happen in the immediate future," said Singh.

Noting that in the last 5-6 years the supply chain has dramatically evolved, particularly with e-commerce coming into play, he said customers expectations have gone up amid e-food and e-grocery shipments now getting deliveries in as short a time as 10-minutes, making the overnight deliveries not good enough.

"Initially when we had designed the logistics infrastructure thinking that this (Banur) is driving distance from NCR, so all the products can be serviced from NCR and stored in NCR and this whole region can be serviced over-night. But amid this shift, the concept of having a facility with over deliveries is no longer good enough. "When we built our strategy about five years ago, we built it around 21 cities. That strategy remains strong. However, the size in each of these 21 integrated hubs is being revised upward," he said.

"As part of the revised strategy, this (Banur) facility will be the primary delivery location or main feeder facility for all the consumption clusters in the surrounding areas. Then in each city such as Amritsar, Ludhiana and Chandigarh will have a small cross-docking centre or dark store, which will be inside the city. But this one will be the main feeder facility, making it A+ Grade facility," he said. According to Singh, the company has grown by 100 per cent in the last six months and looking to double revenue going forward.

"We are looking to become a Rs 10,000 crore revenue company by FY 2026," added Singh. Singh said that the company is upgrading its truck fleet by equipping them with technology such as telematics and GPS devices, with plans to induct green vehicles as well.

"We are also looking at deploying drones for stocktake. We will start with five facilities, two each in North and West and one in South," he said.