Kozhikode: Aghin Roadways, one of the largest cargo fleet operators in the country, has announced expansion plans involving an investment of more than Rs 180 crore in the current fiscal year.
The company, based in Kerala’s Kozhikode, has more than 1,000 trucks on the road. It is also part of the multi-diversified Team Thai group with interests in FMCG, automobiles, tourism and real estate.
Announcing the expansion plans here, P C Thahir, managing director, Aghin Roadways, said the company’s plans also involve geographical expansion as the operations grow to further north of the country.
“At present, 50 per cent of our business is from the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka and in the current year, we want to increase the share of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in the pie,” he said.
Aghin Roadways has 16 branches in the central and southern parts of the country. In the current year, the company is opening up six more branches in Jaipur (Rajasthan), Jharsuguda (Odisha), Kolkata (Bengal), Hamirpur (UP), Panipat (Haryana) and Kotla (Karnataka).
The company has finalised the purchase of 300 trucks in FY24 and has already bought 151 trucks from Ashok Leyland, worth around Rs 90 crore.
“Now, the company operates in nine states and handles more than 3 lakh tonnes of cargo every month. Our major clients include India Cements, UltraTech, Dalmia , ACC, Ambuja and GHCL among others. With the current expansion plans in force, we target to handle 4 lakh tonnes of cargo every month with an annual business of Rs 420 crore, a growth of 20 per cent over last year’s Rs 350 crore,” Ashique Thahir, director, Aghin Roadways said.
Aghin employs a workforce of more than 2,500 personnel in addition to nearly 2000 strong workforce in the other group companies. “We would like to increase this also in the current year and plan to recruit around 750 personnel,” Thahir said.
The company was one of the first cargo movers to rebound after the Covid outbreak as it had implemented a fleet expansion just before the pandemic. “Immediately after the pandemic, we redrew our growth plans and went ahead with further purchases. We also have plans to expand to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the next fiscal,” Thahir said.