By Ravichandran Srinivasan
As India’s logistics sector undergoes rapid transformation, the company is driving profitable growth through technology-led operations, network optimisation, operational discipline and customer-centric supply chain solutions.
As India’s logistics sector undergoes a structural transformation driven by consumption growth, manufacturing expansion, e-commerce penetration and infrastructure modernisation, Mahindra Logistics Ltd. (MLL) is sharpening its focus on profitable growth, operational excellence and technology-led execution. Under the leadership of Hemant Sikka, MD & CEO, the company is steadily repositioning itself from a traditional logistics player into a highly integrated, analytics-driven supply chain partner capable of handling increasingly complex customer requirements across industries.
From contract logistics and B2B express services to last-mile delivery, freight forwarding and mobility solutions, MLL today operates across the full logistics value chain. Yet, according to Hemant, the company’s long-term ambition remains sharply defined. “Our aim is to become the #1 logistics services provider in India, delivering superior customer experience through technology-led solutions backed with a passionate team,” he says.
Building scale with discipline
Founded in 2007 with the objective of building a modern logistics company rooted in the values and execution rigour of the Mahindra Group, MLL has steadily expanded its footprint across multiple sectors including automotive, e-commerce, manufacturing, industrial and consumer goods. Contract logistics continues to remain its core business, while the acquisition and integration of Rivigo’s B2B operations has significantly strengthened its express logistics capabilities.
For Hemant, however, scale alone is not the end goal. “Scaling our core 3PL business with quality is the foundation. Every contract must make sense at a customer level, operational level and capital level. That discipline matters more than scale for its own sake,” he explains.
The company’s strategic priorities today revolve around three key pillars – scaling the core 3PL business profitably, stabilising and strengthening the express business, and driving operational excellence across the network. “Express logistics in India is a scale game, but scale must come with network efficiency and utilisation discipline. Over the last year, we have shifted focus from topline exuberance to margin-led growth, and the results are now slowly becoming visible,” Hemant notes.
Operational excellence, according to him, forms the backbone that connects all business verticals. “Standardised processes, network optimisation, technology-led decision-making and safety-first operating models are what allow scale to translate into profit. If we execute consistently on these three, the milestones will follow,” he says.
Balancing asset-light agility with strategic infrastructure investments
Despite increasing investments in Grade-A warehousing infrastructure, MLL continues to maintain a predominantly asset-light philosophy. Hemant describes this as an “asset-right” approach rather than a purely asset-light one.
“We believe strongly in an asset-right model. Mahindra Logistics will remain largely asset-light because that gives us flexibility and capital efficiency,” he says. “At the same time, there are specific parts of the value chain – particularly Grade-A, multi-client, automation-ready warehouses – where owning or co-investing makes strategic and economic sense.”
The company’s investment philosophy remains selective and return-driven. “We invest only where we see long-term contracted demand, strong ROCE and strategic control over service quality. In other words, we invest in assets only when they enhance customer value and shareholder returns simultaneously,” he explains.
The same discipline is guiding the company’s approach towards emerging opportunities such as Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), especially under infrastructure initiatives like Bharatmala Pariyojana and PM Gati Shakti.
“These programs are genuinely transformational for India’s logistics sector,” says Hemant. “They substantially improve connectivity, reduce transit times and enable more efficient multimodal integration.”
However, MLL remains cautious and selective in its participation strategy. “Each project must clearly stand up to rigorous commercial scrutiny. Location advantage, seamless multimodal connectivity, proximity to customer demand centres and the ability to drive utilisation are all non-negotiables,” he points out.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 expansion drives network evolution
As consumption patterns shift rapidly beyond metropolitan markets, MLL is redesigning its distribution architecture to cater to growing demand from Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural regions.
“India’s growth story is increasingly being written beyond the metros,” Hemant observes. “Our network strategy is designed around this reality, anchored in a multi-node model that balances reach, speed and cost efficiency.”
Today, the company claims direct coverage across more than 6,000 pin codes, supported by an extensive hub-and-spoke network and strategic partnerships for low-density last-mile operations. “Together, this integrated network enables us to serve Pan-India with the same consistency, transparency and reliability traditionally associated with metros – while remaining structurally efficient and scalable for the long term,” he says.
Automotive logistics evolves for the EV era
Automotive logistics continues to remain one of MLL’s most strategically important segments, especially given the increasing complexity associated with electric vehicle transportation and inbound manufacturing logistics.
“For OEMs, the stakes in outbound logistics are uniquely high. A vehicle is a customer’s first physical experience of the brand – and it must arrive in perfect condition,” says Hemant.
To strengthen its automotive logistics capabilities, the company is expanding its specialised carrier fleet while simultaneously investing in real-time visibility and monitoring systems. “We are deploying real-time visibility and transit monitoring – the same intelligence that powers our Logi ecosystem – so OEMs have accurate, timely information on vehicle movements and condition at every point in the journey,” he explains.
EV logistics, he says, presents an entirely new layer of operational requirements. “Battery safety, specialised handling protocols and incident preparedness demand higher standards than conventional vehicle transport. We are investing in structured driver training, EV-ready loading practices and tighter monitoring frameworks to meet this bar.”
MLL is also increasingly focused on supporting automotive manufacturers through advanced in-plant logistics and just-in-time delivery systems. “A missed sequencing window does not just create a delay – it can stop a production line. The cost of that is immediate and measurable,” Hemant remarks.
The company is therefore deploying digital visibility tools, real-time sequencing systems and AI-based planning models to improve synchronisation between logistics operations and plant schedules. “JIT today is not simply about on-time delivery; it is about delivering the right part, in the right sequence, to the right line-side location, at precisely the right moment,” he explains.
AI and analytics become operational differentiators
Technology is increasingly becoming central to MLL’s operational and strategic execution. The company has developed VEDAA, its in-house generative AI engine integrated into its broader Logi ecosystem.
“Our flagship is VEDAA, our in-house GenAI engine integrated across the Logi ecosystem,” says Hemant. “It lets users ask questions of their data in plain language, get insights on the fly and receive contextual recommendations – right inside the applications they already use.”
Built using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI frameworks and dedicated AI agents, the platform is already being deployed across supply chain operations, HR, finance and workforce management.
On the predictive side, machine learning engines are supporting critical operational functions including route optimisation, forecasting and load balancing. “Each engine uses the architecture best suited to its data and prediction task, selected on accuracy. The result is that AI is driving real decisions every day – at scale, in production,” he says.
Profitability turnaround through operational discipline
One of the most significant developments for MLL in recent quarters has been its turnaround in profitability, particularly after sustained pressure in the express business.
According to Hemant, the improvement did not come from one dramatic intervention but through multiple disciplined operational actions. “The biggest shift was moving the mindset decisively from gross margin optimisation to an EBIT-first focus,” he explains.
This change fundamentally altered how the organisation approached customer acquisition, network design and operational planning. “We developed a granular understanding of customer-level and lane-level profitability, which allowed us to take hard calls on structurally loss-making lanes and contracts,” he says.
The integration of Rivigo’s B2B business has also started yielding meaningful synergies. “Improved bidirectional lane balance, shared line-haul assets and tighter terminal operations helped lift operating leverage,” Hemant notes.
He emphasises that operational consistency remains critical to sustaining this turnaround. “There was no single silver bullet. The improvement came from many small, surgical actions executed with discipline, day after day,” he says.
Green logistics gains commercial momentum
Sustainability is another area where MLL sees strong long-term strategic opportunity. Through its last-mile delivery and mobility solutions businesses, the company has steadily expanded its electric vehicle deployment.
“Sustainability, for us, is both a moral imperative and a business opportunity – and the two are no longer in tension,” says Hemant.
He believes the economics of electric vehicles are gradually becoming more favourable, particularly in urban delivery applications. “Lower fuel and maintenance costs, higher vehicle uptime and simpler powertrain mechanics are already delivering meaningful operating cost advantages,” he explains.
While acknowledging that green logistics still faces challenges related to charging infrastructure and upfront capital costs, Hemant says MLL is pursuing a disciplined deployment strategy. “Our approach has been to scale selectively – deploying EVs where utilisation is high, routes are well-defined and total cost of ownership is clearly favourable.”
Over time, he expects green logistics to evolve from an ESG-driven initiative into a structurally profitable operating model. “What began as an ESG-led initiative is evolving into a structurally sound operating model for last-mile logistics,” he says.
The future – physical logistics powered by intelligence
Looking ahead, Hemant believes the future of logistics will not be defined by a choice between physical infrastructure and digital intelligence, but by the seamless integration of both.
“Physical execution will always matter in logistics. Trucks will still move, warehouses will still operate and inventories will still need to be handled flawlessly,” he says.
However, the real differentiator will increasingly be intelligence-led orchestration. “What will increasingly differentiate winners is how intelligently these physical networks are designed, orchestrated and optimised,” Hemant explains. “Data, analytics, automation and software will sit at the core of how we plan routes, price services, manage assets, predict demand and respond to disruptions in real time.”
Yet, despite all the technology transformation, he insists that people will remain central to the business. “A passionate, well-trained and values-driven team is what converts platforms and processes into real customer outcomes,” he says.
For MLL, that combination of disciplined execution, customer obsession, operational intelligence and long-term strategic patience appears set to define its next phase of growth in India’s rapidly evolving logistics landscape.