CONCOR Eyes 10-12% Growth In Volume, Finances For FY18
There is a huge need of warehouse infrastructure with the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), V. Kalyana Rama, chairman and managing director of Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) told Bloomberg Quint in an interview.
As the logistics industry is said to be the biggest gainers under GST as inter-state transport of goods would become more efficient, Rama said CONCOR has identified six locations in the country where they are developing multi-modal logistic parks.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
What is the impact of GST on your business?
As of now, the export and import trade by containers is going on as usual. There is some slowdown in the domestic side. The trade industry is trying to understand how it is impacting them not only on logistics side but on supply and consumption sides too. All the other stakeholders in the supply chain link also have to come to the same level of understanding.
What are the challenges the industry is facing during this transition phase?
I am expecting people to understand the effects of GST quickly and do some business re-engineering. Billing of logistic surveys and when product is moving from manufacturer to the customer... Earlier it may be in a different mode, now how it is to be built, who has to pay the transportation cost, all these things are going to matter. We are well prepared and started issuing GST-compliant invoices since July 1.
What is the update on dedicated freight corridor? How much work has been done?
This is not concerned with me so I go with the directions given by Dedicated Freight Corporation. We will be able to complete it in 2019. Mundra port to Rewari will help the logistics industry and multi modal operations.
Which are the new projects coming up?
We are present in 72 locations in India. We will be doing seven projects in this financial year. In three years' time, we will be present in 100 locations where 90 percent will be owned by us and 10 in some sort of agreement.
What is the volume growth outlook that you are looking at in this financial year?
We will be looking at 10-12 percent growth in both volume and finances for this financial year.
What is the update on export-import trends and recovery?
After a continuous decline of exports in last 21 months, there is an uptake in the last quarter of the last financial year. I think that uptake is going on and it will get better for export-imports too.
How are you looking at improving margins?
We are doing double stack operations between Rewari and Mundra. Our target is to do 50 percent more double stack operations than last year. We are also looking at timely clearances from ports so that customer will be satisfied and we can get on to multi-modal operations. We will also go for ITes- based service in all ports to reduce cost of operations which will reduce margins.
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