Reliance Industries’ infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), the Intelligent Supply Chain Infrastructure Trust, has filed its draft placement memorandum to raise around 3,000 crore. The ISCI Trust is responsible for Reliance Retail’s warehousing and logistics infrastructure, which consists of over 60 warehouses across 34 cities, including major metros Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Hyderabad.
The funds so raised will be used towards the acquisition of warehousing and logistics-related assets through a special purpose vehicle (SPV). Each of RIL Retail’s warehouses is planned to be more than 100,000 sq.ft. and requires an investment of more than INR 25 crore, as specified under the Harmonised List, according to the draft.
“Demand for warehousing and logistics assets is anticipated to be resilient in the near future, owing to occupiers adopting a multi-polar supply chain strategy and the continuing government push to improve logistics infrastructure and investments,” the draft noted.
While demand for warehousing space did witness a dip in calendar year 2020, the annual demand has consistently shown an upward trend since then. During CY 2022, the demand was recorded at 31.6 million sq.ft., almost matching the pre-COVID peak, and is expected to rise to between 32 and 35 million sq.ft. during CY 2023 across the top eight key warehouse markets.
