Apollo International sees logistics arm clocking Rs 4,500 crore by 2022

Apollo International is targeting a five-fold jump in the turnover of its logistics arm Apollo LogiSolutions (ALS) to touch Rs 4,500 crore by 2022. The company plans to invest around US $200 million in the next few years as it gears up to expand through both organic growth and acquisitions for a public listing of ALS around 2020. "We are looking for a topline of Rs 900 crore this year, up from Rs 750 crore last year. Our target is to reach Rs 4,500 by 2022," Apollo International Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Raaja Kanwar told PTI.

Bullish on the logistics sector in India, he said implementation of GST will be a big boost with removal of myriad taxes resulting in reduced cost, increased efficiency and provide a level playing field to organised players vis-a-vis unorganised operators. He said 70 % of ALS' turnover will be from India and the rest from international operations by 2022.

In order to achieve the target, the company is working on plans to set up five mega warehouses in north, south, east, west and central India. "We are looking at a total of around 4-5 million square feet of warehousing space, up from the current 1.1 million square feet," Kanwar said. When asked about investments, ALS President Pisipati S S Prasad said it could be around US $200 million in the next few years, which will be a combination of debt and equity. He said acquisitions, primarily in the domestic market will play a significant role in the company's future plans. "We have already identified five-six targets," Prasad said, adding the company was looking at far East and Africa for its international expansion.

Commenting on plans to list ALS, Kanwar said: "We will start preparing by 2019 and list in 2020 but it is too early to talk about how much stake to be diluted through the IPO."