India based e-commerce retailer Flipkart has announced to set up a logistics hub in West Bengal in order to serve east and northeast regions of India. The announcement of the Kolkata hub has come close on the heels of a similar centre in Bengaluru where the company is based.
The state-of-the-art logistics park in Bengaluru will be spread in an area of 4.5 million square feet while the just-announced logistics hub in West Bengal will be spread over an area of 40 lakh sq. ft. The retailer will invest more than Rs. 600 crores for its centre in Kolkata. This has been confirmed by Flipkart’s Vice President Amitesh Jha to a business newspaper, ET.
According to Jha, the e-retailer is looking for 80 acres of land to set up its logistics centre on a Delhi- or Mumbai-bound highway near Kolkata. Once operational, this will be biggest ever investment in logistics in the eastern region of the country by an e-retailer.
The proposed centre will offer direct employment to more than 5,000 people and help to improve the supply chain efficiency and reduce costs by deploying mechanised warehousing and intelligent transport systems. Around 15,000 indirect jobs are also expected to be created in the area due to this logistic hub.
The first phase of the centre is likely to be completed in 18 months’ time.
Flipkart’s rival Amazon too has been spreading its network of fulfilment centres in India in view of the increasing consumer demand. It just announced the addition of six new FCs in Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow, Gurgaon, Bhopal and Coimbatore. These warehouses will help the e-retailer ensure timely delivery of products across the country.
Amazon has around 62 Fulfilment Centres in over 13 states, at present, Amazon offers around 13.5 million cubic feet of storage space, the largest storage infrastructure for sellers in the e-commerce industry across India.
