PWC Logistics to raise India investments to $1 bn

Friday, 16 June 2006, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: PWC Logistics, a global provider of end-to-end supply chain solutions in several countries including in the Middle East, is planning to increase investment in India to $1 billion over the next five years. Providing supply chain services particularly to the oil and gas sector, the multinational company has been operating in India through its subsidiary GeoLogistics, which has presence in 25 cities across the country. PWC Logistics acquired GeoLogistics Corporation, a global leader in non-asset based logistics including air and sea freight, in September last year. "Our current level of investments in India is about $200 million, which we are looking to increase to $1 billion in the next five years as we are keen to invest in development of world class supply chain from farm gate to retailers," Tarek Sultan, chairperson and managing director of PWC Logistics, told IANS. Sultan is part of the business delegation accompanying Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Expecting major growth to come from rural areas, the Kuwait Stock Exchange listed company is stepping up focus to serve the farm sector through greater focus on transportation. In February, PWC Logistics also got listed on the Dubai Financial Market. "We are planning to set up distribution centres to support our logistics services and invest in transportation infrastructure next. This could be either trucks or even air cargoes with complete systems and people to support it," he said. With plans to take its supply chain service to the agriculture producing areas, PWC Logistics is looking to strengthen its cold chain service, and providing modern and better technical support to retail chains. India is a key market for the company, which has operations in around 100 countries. India, the US, Hong Kong, Britain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are some other key areas of its operations. "India and China are two countries we really want to focus on and step up our investments as we see major growth coming from these two countries. We are already employing about 2,000 Indians in our operations and have about 15,000 major companies as our customers," said Sultan.
Source: IANS