DHL Supply Chain (DHL) plans to invest €500 million in India over the next five years as it looks to grow its warehousing capacity, workforce and sustainability initiatives in the country.

The company plans to own and operate large multi-client sites in India, adding 12 million square feet of warehousing space, to cater to growing sectors like e-commerce, retail, consumer, life sciences, technology, engineering and manufacturing as well as automotive.

These warehouses will feature tech solutions like assisted picking robots, indoor robotic transport, intelligent process automation, wearable devices, voice picking, inventory management robots and algorithmic optimization..

DHL will add 12 million square feet of capacity across wholly owned sites in key cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, National Capital Region (NCR) and Pune. The company said multi-client sites are also being built in fast-growing state capitals and tier 2 cities like Ambala, Baddi, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Sanand, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Hosur, and Visakhapatnam.

DHL Supply Chain India will also open two new business support centers (BSC) in Bangalore and Pune within the next 12-18 months to support customer demand. The company runs three BSCs in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai, providing 24/7 value-added services.

“Asia Pacific currently accounts for about 15 percent of DHL Supply Chain’s global revenue but is among the fastest growing regions, with India being a key contributor to this growth. The Indian logistics market, worth over US$200 billion now, is expected to grow at about 10% per year in the next five years to reach around US$330 billion. We take a long-term view in India with businesses here having reasons to be optimistic,” said Terry Ryan, CEO, DHL Supply Chain Asia Pacific.