Three years ago, Ather Energy, a leading electric vehicle (EV) two-wheeler manufacturer, moved its manufacturing from Bangalore to the neighbouring hilly town of Hosur in western Tamil Nadu as it was expanding at a rapid pace and needed larger space. TVS Industrial & Logistics Parks Pvt Ltd (TVS ILP) made this shift easy by enabling Ather move to its sprawling logistics park at Hosur, just 35 km from Bangalore. Thanks to the timely move, Ather ramped up production quickly and today rolls out a vehicle every 0.46 seconds, said a senior official of Ather.

Ather can annually manufacture nearly 4 lakh vehicles at the Hosur factory, which employs over 1,000 workers, he said. Other than providing built-in-space space, TVS ILP enabled Ather on subsidies and benefits offered by the Tamil Nadu government for setting up EV manufacturing in Hosur, said Manikandan Ramachandran, Chief Operating Officer, TVS ILP, a part of TVS Mobility group, told newspersons at the company’s Hosur logistics park.

Hosur being a rocky terrain had challenges. The uneven surface had to be cut to make it uniform, and the project experienced intermittent rains throughout the execution. However, for Ather, the facility was given within the committed delivery time, Ramachandran said. In April 2020, the bhoomi pooja was held for Ather’s phase-I project for a built-up area of 1.23 lakh sq ft, and the facility was handed over in August 2020 — in 114 days. The facility stored and tested raw materials; pre-assembly area; temperature-controlled cell storage battery area; 37 bay assembly line and battery assembly unit.

In two years, Ather decided to expand the facility with phase-II having a built-up area of 4.71 lakh sq ft in the same complex. The construction started in April 2022 and the facility was handed over to Ather in 108 days. The phase-II facility has an assembly area; storage racking and inbuilt 125 m test track with a design speed of 85 kmph, he said.

Ather is an example of how TVS ILP enables clients to move quickly to the logistics park, he said.

Also read: Expansion mode. TVS Industrial and Logistics Park to develop 20 mn sq ft of industrial space 

Expansion

A Credai-Anarock report in 2022 said that India will need to create adequate supply to meet an absorption of around 223 million sq ft of Grade-A (top end) warehousing demand over the next three years. This signifies a latent investment opportunity of a further $2.8 billion in warehousing in the near future.

Ramachandran said TVS ILP plans to set up warehouses every 400 km across India as demand for storage space is increasing from clients in sectors like e-commerce, FMCG and consumer durables and electronics.

TVS ILP, an equal joint venture of TVS Supply Chain Solutions and Ravi Swaminathan & Family, will double its warehouse space to around 20 million sq ft in the next 2-3 years. “When the company achieves 20 million sq ft, we would have cumulatively invested around $1 billion,” he told businessline. “Over the next few years, the annual spend would be approximately $75-85 million per year and we intend to be a 20 million platform with contracted revenue of $750 million. The management is evaluating various options for future growth capital,” he said.

The company has a strong presence in the South with warehouses in Madurai, Chennai and Hosur. It will move upwards on the East coast with plans to set up warehouses every 400 km in Vizag, Vijayawada, Cuttack, Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati, and later move to other regions. The average land parcel size to build a park is 25-30 acres, he said.

At present, the company has 11 logistics parks providing space to 35 clients, including Flipkart, Amazon, Ather and Agnikul. E-commerce contributes to nearly 33 per cent of the company’s business, he added.

This writer was in Hosur at TVS ILP’s invitation

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