Blackstone Invests Rs 700 Cr to Redevelop CWC Warehouses

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) Logistics platform Horizon Industrial Parks, owned and managed by Blackstone Real Estate funds, will invest Rs 700 crore to redevelop warehouses of state-owned CWC in 13 locations.

In a statement on Monday, the company said it has been "chosen as the lead partner by the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to manage a portfolio of 13 last-mile logistics assets".

The CWC is a public warehouse operator established by the central government under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

During the 45 years of partnership, Horizon Industrial Parks will redevelop the government-owned assets into modern Grade-A facilities, tailored to tenants in fast-growing sectors like e-commerce, retail, third-party logistics, and cold chain.

"With a development potential of 2.4 million square feet, this is one of the largest last-mile logistics portfolios in India. The investment commitment is expected to be around Rs 700 crore to support the growth of the portfolio," it said.

Real estate consultant Knight Frank India facilitated the deal.

The consultant said that Horizon Industrial Park has committed to developing Grade A warehousing across 13 locations in key cities with a total investment of over Rs 700 crore for 70 acres.

The majority of the portfolio is concentrated in last-mile locations across the National Capital Region, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore within close proximity to residential areas and city centres.

Asheesh Mohta, Head of Real Estate Acquisitions India, Blackstone, said: "Logistics is one of Blackstone's highest conviction investment themes around the world, including in the growing market of India, where we bring scale, operational expertise, and a
track record of success. We will bring the best of Blackstone and Horizon and work closely with the CWC to create best-in-class warehouses that provide efficient delivery solutions".

Horizon Industrial Parks manages 25 industrial and logistics parks spread across
more than 1,700 acres with an area of 43 million square feet in 10 key markets in India.

Separately, Knight Frank India said it has successfully executed the monetisation of around 83 acres of prime Grade A warehousing properties for the CWC.

"As part of its monetisation efforts, CWC earmarked prime warehousing properties across 50+ locations for modernisation and development under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with a total investment of Rs 782 crore across 16 properties," it added.

Three locations have been given to RSA Warehousing, TransAsia Shipping and LL Logistics, with a total development potential of around 5 lakh square feet and a total development cost of Rs 82 crore.