Mumbai, February 18 – FedEx, a major transportation firm, announced on Wednesday that it will invest over ₹2,500 crore to set up a 300,000 sq ft fully automated cargo hub at the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
The facility, which will be developed in collaboration with Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), will be designed as a regional consolidation and redistribution hub, supporting trade flows across Southeast and West Asia, Europe, and the United States, and directly connecting India's primary trade corridor to the global network, FedEx stated.
Earlier in the day, a groundbreaking ceremony for the facility was held at the Navi Mumbai International Airport's cargo terminal, attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior leadership teams from both FedEx and AAHL.
The US-based multinational courier delivery conglomerate, which handles approximately 17 million packages daily and operates 400 daily freighter services globally, already has a tech hub in Hyderabad.
Equipped with advanced automated sorting systems, dimensional scanning technology, high-speed screening, and dedicated aircraft parking bays, the Navi Mumbai facility will enable simultaneous processing of inbound and outbound shipments, enhancing routing flexibility and predictability, particularly for high-value and time-sensitive sectors such as electronics, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, and perishable goods.
"The ₹2,500 crore long-term investment by FedEx will support the proposed 300,000 sq ft facility, designed as a regional consolidation and redistribution hub and developed in partnership with AAHL," the company said.
The hub leverages NMIA's multimodal infrastructure to strengthen western India's international trade corridor. Once operational, the facility is expected to create more than 6,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities across logistics, warehousing, transportation, and related services, FedEx stated.
It also highlighted that the new facility will enhance capacity in India's largest international trade corridor and strengthen its role as an integrated logistics and trade gateway for western India.
"This development reflects NMIA's long-term vision of building integrated infrastructure that strengthens India's trade competitiveness," said Jeet Adani, Director at AAHL. "With its proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, industrial corridors, and multimodal transport networks, NMIA is uniquely positioned to support high-growth export sectors and enhance Maharashtra's role as a global logistics gateway."
"This is not just an investment; it's a statement of confidence in India's economic trajectory, in Maharashtra's infrastructure vision, and in what this (NMIA) airport represents," he added.
He stated that NMIA, being in close proximity to one of the country's busiest container ports, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, has earmarked 29 hectares of land for cargo infrastructure, 10 dedicated freighter stands, and a fully automated cargo terminal with the capacity to handle over 3 million metric tons of cargo annually.
"This combination of sea-to-port proximity, air connectivity, and purpose-built cargo infrastructure is very rare, not just in India, but globally. It is this convergence that makes Navi Mumbai a natural choice for a company like FedEx to build its India hub," he said.
This facility will serve as a high-tech gateway for both domestic and international shipments, strengthening India's trade ecosystem, accelerating goods movement, and connecting Indian exporters and businesses more directly to markets across South Asia, Europe, and the United States, Jeet Adani said.
"At the Adani Group, we see airports not merely as passenger terminals, but as engines of economic growth," he said. "Across our entire portfolio, from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, from Jaipur to Trivandrum, we are building infrastructure that serves as the connective tissue of India's growth story. NMI is perhaps the most ambitious expression of that belief."
As cargo operations at the NMIA scale up and more global players follow FedEx's lead, Jeet Adani said, this airport will become what it was always meant to be, a world-class logistics hub that puts India at the center of global supply chains.
Speaking at the ceremony, FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam said that India's trade ambition is entering a new phase, moving beyond point-to-point volume flows towards hub-led transhipment-driven logistics.
"The FedEx Navi Mumbai hub is designed to support this shift," he said.
In addition to increasing FedEx operational capacity here, the company is helping expand export corridors and strengthening service reliability for high-growth industries, he said.
"Our announcement today reflects the long-term commitment of FedEx to India's trade growth and our alignment to the National Logistics Policy and PM's Gati Shakti Plan," Subramaniam said. "At the centre of this is a long-term investment of over US$250 million, demonstrating our confidence in India's growth trajectory and our commitment to building the capabilities to support it."
India has witnessed historic growth as supply chain diversification and resilience became boardroom conversations, he said, adding, "We do not see this as a temporary trend, but a long-term shift as the world re-globalises, which is why our investments here are also focused on the long term."
Addressing the function, Fadnavis said that FedEx's decision to invest in a hub in Mumbai at a time shows the power of India and shows how India and Maharashtra matter when it comes to trade.
"I think when companies like FedEx come with new technologies, with the use of artificial intelligence that helps in bringing down the cost of logistics," he added.
"India's competitiveness in global trade will increasingly depend on the reliability and speed of its logistics infrastructure," said Kami Vishwanathan, President for Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa (MEISA) at FedEx.
Establishing this hub at NMIA allows FedEx to integrate global network strength with India's fastest-growing trade corridor, providing greater certainty, speed, and efficiency to customers, she added.
The improved reliability is also expected to strengthen export-import capabilities for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) while contributing to lower logistics costs and faster turnaround times, it said.
