Arshiya International to invest Rs1,500 crore in India’s first FTWZ

India's logistics solutions provider Arshiya International Limited (Arshiya) launched yesterday the nation's first Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ) in Panvel near Mumbai with a capital outlay of approximately Rs1,500 crore.

The FTWZ, first of the five similar zones planned to be built by the company, is strategically located just 24-km away from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. The 165-acre state-of-the-art facility will be operational in two phases, and at its full capacity would provide employment to around 25,000 people, the company said yesterday in an announcement to the National Stock Exchange.

''With the launch of India's first FTWZ, Arshiya will not only increase profitability and induce cost savings for our customers, but will also serve as a game changer in the Indian logistics landscape'', Ajay Mittal, Group chairman and managing director of Arshiya said.

''The FTWZ develops a whole new dimension in our ability to provide integration, flexibility and savings for our global and Indian customers and we are especially excited about the opportunities to make India a regional storage and value-addition hub,'' he continued.

India's commerce ministry envisages creation of world-class infrastructure for transportation, handling, and warehousing of various goods with one-stop clearance of customs formalities for import and export. Establishment of FTWZs, which falls under the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act, is a major step in that direction.

Mumbai-based Arshiya is a flagship company of the Arshiya Group. The company is an integrated supply chain and logistics infrastructure solutions provider. Arshiya plans to invest around Rs7,500 crore over 3 years on creating logistics infrastructure in India.