Flipkart launches India's largest modern fulfillment center in WB

In a major step toward the creation of large-scale entrepreneurship and employment opportunities for millions of sellers, artisans, and employable youth in Eastern India, Flipkart, India's homegrown e-commerce marketplace, today announced the inauguration of India's largest fulfillment center in Haringhata, West Bengal.

The tech-enabled facility that will create more than 11,000 job opportunities and will support around 20,000 sellers from the state and North-East region, was inaugurated (virtually) during the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2022 by the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Mamta Banerjee in presence of Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee, Minister of Transport and Housing Firhad Hakim, Principal Chief Advisor to Chief Minister Amit Mitra and Chief Secretary H.K.Dwivedi.

Located 50 km from Kolkata, the Big box facility has an integrated supply chain management spread across 110 acres. It will help strengthen the local economy with the availability of a stronger supply chain infrastructure to connect thousands of sellers from West Bengal and the North East region with national market access while also catering to growing customer demand.

With 5 million cubic feet of storage spread across six mezzanine levels, the Haringhata fulfillment center will have a total built-up area of 2 million sq feet. The facility has been designed with state-of-the-art technologies such as automated storage and retrieval, robotic packaging arms, cross belt sorters, and a 9 km long network conveyor belt to reduce turnaround time by 35%-50% in shipments movement. With system-driven task distribution, automation in storage, process, and allocation, this FC has been designed for value creation for the ecosystem of customers and sellers.

In a testament to Flipkart's commitment to building a sustainable supply chain, the Haringhata facility has achieved the unique distinction of being India's first e-commerce facility to be provisionally certified with a Platinum rating by the Indian Green Buildings Council (IGBC), under the new warehouse category of the IGBC Green Logistics Parks and Warehouses Rating System.

The Rating System is a 'first-of-its-kind and exclusively' developed framework to address sustainability in logistics parks, warehouses, and other storage facilities in the country. It integrates multiple dimensions of sustainability such as reduced carbon emissions, enhanced energy and water savings, rainwater harvesting, resource management, biodiversity protection, optimized lead time, enhanced storage space utilization, better health and well-being of occupants, and higher productivity of the workforce.

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, said, "It is a matter of immense pride that West Bengal will now house one of the largest fulfillment centers in the country as India's e-commerce logistics industry takes a stride with the establishment of Flipkart's state-of-the-art futuristic fulfillment center in Haringhata. I congratulate the entire team of Flipkart on achieving this feat which will significantly contribute to the economic development of the region and its citizens and also set new benchmarks in the industry for the development of sustainable and technology-enabled warehousing infrastructure in the country. As a progressive state, West Bengal is at the forefront of creating a conducive environment for companies to make fresh investments and works closely with them in realizing it on the ground."

Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Chief Executive Officer, Flipkart Group, said, "E-commerce has the power to truly connect every Indian while creating shared value for an ecosystem of sellers, customers, artisans, kiranas, and the farmer community. A strong supply chain is a backbone for connecting lakhs of small and large businesses, and as a homegrown e-commerce marketplace, we are committed to investing in infrastructure, technology and talent to unlock this opportunity for the country's economic growth. The launch of the Haringhata fulfillment center will further strengthen supply chain infrastructure and is an important milestone in the creation of technology-led modern warehousing infrastructure in the country. We are proud that this is also one of our most sustainable facilities combining the strength of our operations to do good for our people and planet."

Partha Chatterjee, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Enterprise, Government of West Bengal, said, "The state of West Bengal is committed to building a conducive environment for investment for the economic development of the region. I'm delighted to say that Flipkart has been a long-standing partner to the state in driving economic prosperity through its investments in supply chain infrastructure, people, and technology. The launch of Flipkart's state-of-the-art futuristic fulfillment center in Haringhata which is one of the largest fulfillment centers in the country is a matter of great pride for us and a testament to our investment-friendly policies."

The facility took two years to be completed, with construction starting in 2019. It was completed in October 2021, incorporating various aspects of technology and sustainability in its construction.