About Western Carriers (India) Limited

Western Carriers (India) is the largest private, multi-modal, rail focused, 4PL asset-light logistics company in India in terms of container volumes handled/operated by private players in Fiscal 2023. Their domestic and EXIM market share, based upon container volumes handled, was 6% and 2%, respectively, in Fiscal 2023. They have several years of experience in road, rail and sea / river multi-modal movement for domestic as well as EXIM cargo in and out of India. 

They operate on a scalable, asset-light business model which enables them to provide differentiated 3PL and 4PL solutions. They endeavour to address complexities (in terms of scale of operations and logistics requirements) by creating customised, one-stop/single-window, end-to-end and integrated logistics solutions for their customers, which involve a variety of value-added services across the supply chain. For instance, in Fiscal 2022, they catered to the integrated multi-modal logistics requirements of an Indian mining and resources group involving rail movement for all circuits, acting as customs house agent at ports such as Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, West Bengal, Haldia, West Bengal, Paradip, Odisha and JNPT, Maharashtra, as well as finished goods handling at their plant, including material handover, container stuffing and rake loading. They have been associated with this Indian mining and resources group as a business partner since 2008.

They have long-standing relationships with customers across varied sectors such as metals, fast moving consumer goods (“FMCG”), pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering, oil and gas and retail. Some of their key customers include:

 Metals Sector
Tata Steel Limited (“Tata Steel”), Hindalco Industries Limited (“Hindalco”), Jindal Stainless Limited (“JSL”), JSW Steel Coated Products Limited (“JSW”), Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (“BALCO”) and Vedanta Limited (“Vedanta”)

FMCG Sector
Hindustan Unilever Limited (“HUL”), Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Private Limited (“Coca Cola India”), Tata Consumer Products Limited (“Tata Consumer”),Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited (“Wagh Bakri”) and CG Foods India Private Limited (“CG Foods”)

Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals
Cipla Limited (“Cipla”), Materials Chemicals and Performance Intermediaries Private Limited (“MCPI”) (formerly, MCC PTA India Corp. Private Limited, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation), Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (“Haldia”) and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (“GHCL”)

Oil and Gas
Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (“BCPL”)

Utilities and others
Sheela Foam Limited (“Sleepwell”) and DHL Logistics Private Limited (“DHL”)

Over the years, their quality of service and end-to-end solution implementation capabilities have been recognised by their customers such as Tata Steel, Hindalco and BALCO. In particular, they were recognised for outstanding contribution under the category of “Support for New Trials” by Tata Steel and they received the monthly ‘CEO award’ for the ‘Best Business Partner’ in 2021 from BALCO and an appreciation award for outstanding services and timeliness from Hindalco in Belagavi, Karnataka in 2022. They received the “Most Valued PartnerTransportation” award for Fiscal 2022 from JCAPCPL (a joint venture between Tata Steel and Nippon Steel Corporation).

They are one of the largest platinum and the largest associate partner of an Indian rail container logistics provider in terms of railway TEUs, in Fiscal 2023. Approximately 6% of the domestic railway TEUs and approximately 4% of the export-import market railway TEUs of this Indian rail container logistics provider business was handled by them in Fiscal 2024 making them the only associate partner of this Indian rail container logistics provider which provides substantial volume (4% in Fiscal 2024) of EXIM business to them.

INDIAN LOGISTICS MARKET
The logistics sector has been recognised as a core enabler for the development of India to reach the government’s vision of achieving a US$5 trillion1economy by the year 2025. In accordance with the Economic Survey Fiscal 2018, the logistics industry in India stood at ₹10.4 trillion in Fiscal 2017. The industry has grown at approximately 11% CAGR to ₹21.6 trillion (US$235.5 billion) 2 over Fiscals 2017 to 2024. According to the industry reports and market estimates, the logistics industry is forecasted to reach approximately ₹35.3 trillion (US$424.1 billion) by Fiscal 2029, growing at a CAGR of 10.3%.

CONTAINER MARKET IN INDIA
In 2022, 866 million TEUs of containers were handled in ports worldwide. The world container port throughput grew at 3.8% CAGR from 2010 to 2022. When compared to the average global container throughput per US$1 billion of GDP, India lags at approximately 5,972 TEU per US$1 billion GDP while the world throughput stood at approximately 9,132 TEU per US$1 billion GDP. India is still ahead of countries like USA, UK and Russia.

The containerization in India increased at a fast pace in the last decade driven by facilities such as easy container identification with unique codes, lower packaging, and transportation cost due to break bulk handling, own warehouse services and lack of pilferage and losses of cargo. Direct port delivery scheme is expected to expedite the clearance of goods directly from the Port thus reducing the transaction time and cost. The container traffic increased at a CAGR of 8.10% from Fiscal 2017 to 2024 led by non-major ports, growing to 313.8 million metric tonne (“MMT”) in Fiscal 2024. It grew at a year-on-year rate of 1% to 279 MMT in Fiscal 2022 owing to the slowdown in trade caused by COVID-19. 

Major ports have continuously lost a significant share of container traffic to non-major ports in last few years, declining from 71.08% in Fiscal 2016 to 57.80% in Fiscal 2024. Rapid expansion of private terminal operators in the non-major ports diverted significant portion of cargo. The market share of non-major ports collectively rose to 42.20% in Fiscal 2024 from 28.92% in Fiscal 2016.

ASSESSMENT OF CONTAINER RAIL MULTIMODAL MARKET
The concept of multimodal logistics came into existence with the rise in international trade and globalization. Multimodal logistics refers to a transport system operated by one carrier with more than one mode of transport under the control or ownership of one operator. The logistics industry across the globe is realizing the importance of an integrated transport system. A planned and coordinated multimodal transport minimises the loss of time and risk of loss, pilferage, and damage to cargo at transhipment points. It reduces the burden of issuing multiple documentation and helps to reduce the cost of exports.

Multimodal transportation is divided into several segments such as railroad, road-water, road-air, others, etc. The multimodal market is around ₹3,463 billion in Fiscal 2024, which is expected to grow to ₹7,480 billion by Fiscal 2029 growing at a CAGR of 17%. The share of multimodal market is approximately 18% of the total logistics market in Fiscal 2024 (₹20-22 trillion) which is expected to grow to 10% of the total logistics market (₹31 trillion to ₹33 trillion) by Fiscal 2028.

Out of this, the multimodal (railroad) market is around ₹1,714 billion in Fiscal 2024 which is expected to grow to ₹4,667 billion by Fiscal 2029 growing at a CAGR of 22% in that period. The share of multimodal (railroad) market is approximately 10% of the total transportation market in Fiscal 2024 which is expected to grow close to twice the size to 15% by Fiscal 2029.

PM Gati Shakti: The Gati Shakti National Master Plan also known as National Master-Plan for multimodal connectivity was launched in October 2021 and is a ₹100 lakh crore project with a target of building a holistic infrastructure in India. It aims to digitally unify 16 different ministries driven by seven modes of road, rail, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics infrastructure. After unification, data exchange on Unified Logistics Interface Platform (“ULIP”) will ensure efficient movement of goods, reduce cost and time. In the future, 100 cargo terminals equipped with multimodal facilities will be developed under this plan.

India has the fourth-largest rail network in the world after USA, Russia, and China. As of Fiscal 2024, the total route was 68,584 km, of which more than 41% was double/multiple tracks. According to Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways total loading was 1.6 billion metric tonne which was 5.2% higher than last year’s loading of 1.5 billion metric tonne.

VALUE ADDED SERVICES IN LOGISTICS MARKET
The term “value-added services” is defined as services that add extra feature, form or function to the basic service. Over the past decades, competition in the logistics industry has steadily increased which has driven the need of offering value-added services to customers as it helps them optimise production costs, improve time management, reduces supply chain complexities, and improves quality control and traceability. Meeting customer demands is another major driving force behind value-added services.

Every transport company can move products from A to B, but it is difficult to stand out in a market full of competition. Carriers, therefore, now provide an increasing number of services, not only do they organise transport, but they also plan, pack, weigh, and label the products. These value-added services are provided in each leg of a complex logistics supply chain. 

4PL partners not only take complete ownership or responsibility of the supply chain but also plan the same and includes all services by 3PL players. In addition to the transportation and storage services across various parts of the value chain, 4PL partners offer full suite of services with end-to-end coverage and entire supply chain systems integration. Thus, 4PL is much more strategic in nature as it ensures business and cost optimization, service fulfilment and customer satisfaction by enabling them to focus on their core business.

As we know, each segment of logistics has a set of varied value-added services to offer to their customers. This increases the complexities in the value chain which can be reduced with proper planning and implementation of these services. Currently, VAS act as a backbone in the entire existence of the multimodal logistics service otherwise without the capability to handle complexity transportation will be single mode.

WESTERN CARRIERS (INDIA) LIMITED COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS
1. Experience in delivering customised, end-to-end services and executing complex and customised projects
2. Comprehensive and integrated multi-modal, end-to-end logistics solutions
3. Strong customer relationships with a diverse customer base
4. Strategically positioned to capitalise on a fast-growing logistics market in India
5. Scaled, asset-light business model with successful track record of delivering growth and profitability and experience of their Promoters and their Company

WESTERN CARRIERS (INDIA) LIMITED STRATEGIES
1. Grow their relationships with their existing customers
2. Acquire new customers and expand into new sectors and new geographies
3. Continued focus on improving margins
4. Pursue inorganic growth on an opportunistic basis
5. Continue to invest in their infrastructure capabilities
6. Enhance their technology capabilities

WESTERN CARRIERS (INDIA) LIMITED RISK FACTORS & CONCERNS
1. They depend on a limited number of key customers for a majority of their revenues, which exposes them to a high risk of customer concentration.
2. They operate in the Indian logistics industry and may be adversely affected by certain factors affecting the growth of this industry.
3. They have a long-standing relationship with an Indian rail container logistics provider, which is currently controlled by the Government.
4. They are exposed to risks related to a sudden escalation in fuel prices, which may adversely affect their profitability.
5. The Indian logistics industry is characterised by certain factors which may lead to a higher degree of intermediation and inefficiencies in transportation of goods.