DARCL Logistics confident of achieving Rs. 5,000-cr turnover level

Mr. K.K. Agarwal, Charman & Managing Director, DARCL Logistics Ltd., who steered the company over the years to make it a major logistics services provider in the country with an annual turnover of Rs. 1,000 crores in the last three years, feels that there is immense potential that remains untapped in the sector. He is confident that with dedicated team work, the company would certainly be able to achieve a turnover of Rs. 5,000 crores in a few years.

The company is now in the process of revisiting its strategies for faster growth. With a vast network covering 200 locations, trained team of more than 2,300 members and warehouses in over 20 cities. DARCL has become one of the acknowledged industry leaders in the country.

Efforts are on to expand its 2-000-strong customer base by focusing on various existing and upcoming sectors like power, projects, telecom, and infrastructural and manufacturing units, backed up with dedicated professional teams. They will also take care of other niche segments like ODC movement, project logistics, multi-modal and rail freight forwarding, transrail, liquid transportation, allied services and third party logistics.

Similarly, to provide further impetus to its multi-modal solutions, DARCL has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Transrail Logistics Ltd., for containerized rail transport of goods. Transrail has been licensed by Indian Railways to provide both exim and domestic container transport services. With its own containers and rakes, it intends to have its own terminals in major industrial hubs and will run scheduled container train services on various routes to garner larger volumes and ensure faster turnaround of trains.
The company already owns one rake comprising 40 wagons with capacity to carry 80 containers, running between Kolkata and Mumbai, and another rake is expected by the end of this financial year. This will help DARCL as a group to serve its customers better with more reliable, cost-effective solutions.

The company is busy recruiting competent and professional persons to manage and drive the growth. Mr. Agarwal says that the sector needs to get more organized. Quality with cost-effective service is what would be the differentiator in future, particularly when the logistics costs in India are 13-14 per cent of GDP as against 8-9 per cent in the West.