The Hindu Business Line : Aegis Logistics to set up chemical tanks at 5 ports

"By the end of the current fiscal, we will enter at least two of these ports either by setting up greenfield terminal projects or buying out existing terminals."

Mumbai , Aug. 24

Aegis Logistics Ltd (ALL), a liquid logistic service provider operating at Mumbai port, is planning to become a national player by creating chemical and gas terminal infrastructure at JNPT, Kandla, Mangalore, Kochi and Visakhapatnam ports in a phased manner.

"By the end of the current fiscal, we will enter at least two of these ports either by setting up greenfield terminal projects or buying out existing terminals. We will cover the other ports in the next fiscal. The idea is to integrate these infrastructure facilities and extend our logistics services at the national level," Mr S.K. Hazra, Managing Director of the company, told Business Line.

The company, which now owns 25 tanks of total capacity 1.65 lakh tonnes and a 20,000-tonne LPG tank in Mumbai, is in the process of investing Rs 77 crore to set up an additional storage capacity of 75,000 tonnes.

In addition to these, the company will be spending about Rs 50 crore to either buy out existing terminal facilities or set up new infrastructure at two other ports this fiscal. "We are in talks with some terminal owners. We hope to finalise the agreements soon," Mr Hazra said.

Major clients

ALL, which was into manufacture of polyol and other chemicals, subsequently became a fourth-party logistic service provider for liquid cargoes, including hazardous chemicals and LPG. Its major clients include oil PSUs such as IOC and BPCL, Reliance and other petrochemical units. ALL facilitates these companies in import or export of various chemical products, using its storage tanks as the centre of the logistic chain.

The company, which notched up a turnover of about Rs 155 crore last fiscal, handled 1.7 million tonnes of liquid cargoes for its clients.

Other players in this sector include Indian Molasses Co (IMC), Ganesh Benzoplast and Indian Oil Tanking, a joint venture between IOC and a foreign partner, but these companies do not handle some hazardous and specialty chemicals like ALL.

Gas division

The company, which is also into import and distribution of Auto LPG, a high grade LPG for automobiles, is betting big on this segment.

After commissioning its first Autogas station in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, it has set up three more stations.

"At present, 30 Aegis Auto Dispensing stations are under various stages of execution. We plan to set up about 50 retail outlets all over the country based on the franchise model within a year and expand the network to 100 within two years.

Autogas prices are 40 to 50 per cent cheaper than petrol and India imports a total of 19,000 tonnes of this gas," according to Mr Hazra.

The new stations will initially be located in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan, besides Maharashtra.

Aegis is also exploring the possibility of expanding its business into propylene gas storage and logistics. If it sets up a propylene tank, it will be India's first propylene storage facility.