The company operates a fleet of 31 rakes and will run services between ICD Kashipur and the maritime ports of Mundra, Pipavav and Nhava Sheva.

"The acquisition of ICD Kashipur remains work in progress and is expected to be completed by end of December 2022,” the company said.

It further added that in order to ensure a smooth transition for customers at this ICD, the container train services are commencing ahead of its acquisition of the ICD as the existing container train operators are exiting the terminal.

On November 1, Gateway Distriparks had announced the signing of a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Kashipur Infrastructure and Freight Terminal (KIFTPL) and its majority shareholders namely, Apollo LogiSolutions, India Glycols and Kashipur Holdings to acquire KIFTPL. The agreed purchase consideration for the acquisition of 99.92% shareholding of KIFTPL from its shareholders is Rs 156 crore.

The agreed purchase consideration for the acquisition of 99.92% shareholding of KIFTPL from its shareholders is Rs 156 crore, subject to certain pre-closing and post-closing adjustments in accordance with the terms of the SPA, which was expected to close at the end of Q3 of FY 2022-23. The process to acquire the remaining 0.08% shareholding from Fourcee Infrastructure Equipments, which is in liquidation, had also been initiated.

KIFTPL owns and operates a rail connected inland container depot (ICD) at Kashipur, Uttarakhand. The facility is spread over 41 acres, has three rail sidings, and 17,000 square feet of warehousing space. The target market in the region includes various industries such as paper products, wastepaper, chemicals, home furnishings, handicrafts, automotive parts, polyfilms, soda ash and other industrial goods.

Currently KIFTPL provides only terminal services, while rail services are provided by other container train operators. With this planned acquisition, GDL will provide exclusive rail services to this ICD using its existing fleet of 31 trains, in addition to offering all terminal services and road transportation, thereby transitioning this ICD to a full multimodal logistics park.

Further, by utilising the strength of the existing network of ICDs and providing cost efficient rail services through the hub and spoke model, the company will be able to grow the volumes at this ICD significantly. The existing volumes handled at ICD Kashipur are 3,000 TEUs per month on average.

Gateway Distriparks (GDL) is a leading multimodal integrated logistics company in India. It has a network of five container freight stations (CFSs) and four rail-linked inland container depots (ICDs). It is also the promoter of Snowman Logistics, India's leading temperature-controlled logistics company.

The company 25.79% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 59.06 crore on a 6.97% increase in sales to Rs 359.13 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

The scrip shed 0.66% to currently trade at Rs 67.60 on the BSE.