CRWC Plans to Diversify From Its Traditional Warehousing

Giving a boost to railside warehousing operations in India, the Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Central Warehousing Corporation, is planning to set up 10 warehouses at railheads to store commodities besides upgrading its existing 19 warehousing complexes in India for Rs 200 crore. In a conversation with Bureaucracy Today, KU Thankachen, Managing Director of the CRWC, talks about its expansion plans.

- Meghna Chukkath

The railside warehousing operations of the Central Rail-side Warehouse Company Ltd started in 2003, with an understanding between a Miniratna PSU, Central Warehousing Corporation, and the Indian Railways. Initially the railside warehousing services were used as a transit warehouse, especially for bulk commodities which only required storage for a limited period. However, in 2007, the CRWC was made a separate subsidiary of the Central Warehousing Corporation. Since then the CRWC has constructed 19 terminals across India. “We have completed our last terminal in Jogeshwari, Mumbai, and it is among the major terminals which we have constructed, ” says CRWC MD KU Thankachen.

The new warehouses, according to its Managing Director, will be equipped with a temperature controlled system at railheads to facilitate the handling and storage of bagged commodities.

DIVERSIFICATION PLANS

The company has undertaken the upgradation of its existing 19 railside warehousing complexes across the country for Rs 200 crore and the company is being diversified to make it more competitive. As part of its diversification initiative, the CRWC has entered into a joint venture agreement with IFFCO Kisan SEZ and Indian Potash Ltd for the development of an integrated railside warehouse complex and freight terminal at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.