3PL market in India to touch INR 48K crore by 2019

According to a survey, the Third Party Logistics 3PL market in the country is expected to touch INR 48,000 crore by 2019, mostly fuelled by outsourcing, especially in retail, and pharmaceutical. “The Indian 3PL market is geared for a robust growth during 2014-2019. It is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 21% to touch INR 48,000 crore over the period 2014-2019.”

“The 3PL market growth is fuelled by factors like the inclined outsourcing by Indian companies and many MNCs particularly in retail, pharmaceutical, automobile, and FMCG sectors,” according to a report by research and consultancy firm RNCOS.

It added that the government’s investment towards the development of freight corridors, ports, and highways, increasing demand by the pharmaceutical industry, and significant growth of the e-commerce industry will be other growth drivers for the sector.

Third-party logistics has been proven to be successful in enhancing the logistics efficiency of many organisations and rapidly gained popularity while spreading across the country, the report pointed out.

The 3PL players are emphasizing more on technological upgradation to engage with the customers and also point out a trend of Fourth-party logistics (4PL) that is emerging to support the 3PL business in the country.

RNCOS Founder Sushmul Maheshwari said, the concept of 4PL is expected to catch momentum over the coming years and it is expected to address the strategic failures of 3PL services and proposes the opportunity to achieve incremental benefits.

As most of the revenue in the industry is contributed by big players, the share of organised segment is expected to rise in the future due to tie-ups and mergers and acquisitions which are anticipated to be more within domestic and international third-party logistics companies, it said.