A year after the pandemic saw supply chains return along with investments in logistics and a higher focus on tier-II and tier-III cities. This recovery, however, has given rise to another concern, storage.

Increased production and investment has facilitated a supply boom, but it has also resulted in a surge in demand for warehousing space. According to Savills India, the country currently requires 70,000 integrated pack houses while the current capacity stands at 250. This clear storage crunch has even forced some e-commerce companies to use halls, stalls and free spaces for storage.

Cold storage chains are also an area of concern following a production boom of foodgrains, dairy and poultry. The added pharmaceutical requirement of the nation-wide vaccine distribution programme has further compounded the issue.

The warehousing sector has turned to robotics and automation in this time of crisis but are there other solutions? And what are the other issues that the sector is facing?

To discuss that and more, CNBC-TV18’s Manisha Gupta spoke to Sandeep Sabharwal, Group CEO at Sohan Lal Commodity Management Private Limited Group and Anand Chandra, Executive Director at Arya Collateral Warehousing Services.

Watch video for more.

(Edited by : Bivekananda Biswas)