“We’re building renewable energy into a dedicated focus area expanding ODC-certified fleet and rigging capability for larger turbine components, deepening hazmat expertise for battery storage, and pursuing certifications like TAPA for high-value cargo security.”
Q1. TCI Group has been serving the logistics industry for many years. How is the company supporting the growing renewable energy sector in India?
Our multimodal network — road, rail through CONCOR, and coastal movement through TCI Seaways — is well suited to a sector where solar parks, wind farms and storage sites often sit far from established industrial corridors. We support it through project cargo and ODC capability for turbine components and transformers, multimodal routing that combines rail trunk haul with road for first- and last-mile delivery, and our zero-emission trucking initiative under the GIZ DeveloPPP FASTR programme.
National infrastructure is helping too. The Dedicated Freight Corridor is moving double-stack trains and cutting per-tonne inland cost, while Gati Shakti’s single digital layer across ministries is closing the physical-digital coordination gaps that used to slow project cargo down.
Q2. Renewable energy projects often require the movement of large and sensitive equipment such as solar modules, transformers, inverters and batteries. What challenges do you see in handling these shipments?
It’s really two risk profiles at once. Bulky ODC cargo blades, nacelles, towers, transformers needs route surveys, multi-state permits and clearance checks before a truck moves. Fragile cargo like modules and inverters is more about breakage and moisture ingress, which comes down to packaging and handling discipline. Batteries add hazmat compliance and thermal risk on top of that.
Site realities compound it unpaved approach roads, limited on-site storage forcing just-in-time delivery, monsoon terrain, and tight EPC timelines with damages clauses attached. Digital public infrastructure is easing some of this: platforms like ULIP let us pull a driver’s hazmat-training status or a vehicle’s fitness details from VAHAN straight into our systems via API, rather than checking paperwork manually.
Q3. With solar, wind, battery storage and EV projects growing across India, which renewable energy segments are creating the biggest logistics opportunities for TCI Group?
Solar is the largest volume opportunity given the sheer scale of capacity addition into parks in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Wind is the most interesting from a capability standpoint, since longer blades and taller towers keep pushing the limits of what’s road-legal a genuine ODC specialist’s territory.
Battery storage is growing fastest off a low base and will demand the most from providers hazmat compliance and site-readiness coordination are more complex than for solar or wind. We’re also watching EV charging infrastructure and battery supply chains build up, which connects naturally to our own zero-emission trucking investment.
Q4. How important are technology, tracking and supply-chain visibility in ensuring safe and timely delivery for renewable energy projects?
Critical these are milestone-linked contracts, so developers need to know not just that a shipment left the factory but when it reaches site. GPS tracking and control-tower visibility let us give that certainty and reroute early when needed. We’re also exploring what digital twins, the kind of simulation Dassault Systèmes has pioneered, can do here is modelling a route before equipment ever leaves the factory and using automation to read shipment orders and pass structured data straight into our systems.
For sensitive cargo, shock sensors, digital proof-of-delivery and simple WhatsApp Business updates all add confidence, since an unplanned delay at a remote site costs far more than the technology that prevents it. One caveat: technology is an enabler, not a strategy it makes trained crews and careful planning more effective, it doesn’t replace them.
Q5. India is developing large renewable energy projects across states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Which regions are currently your priority for renewable energy logistics, and why?
Rajasthan and Gujarat are our highest priority Rajasthan for its large solar parks, and Gujarat for combining solar, wind and hybrid capacity with port infrastructure that brings in imported equipment, which our branch network there lets us move efficiently inland.
Tamil Nadu gives us a strong wind corridor and east-coast port access; Maharashtra combines industrial demand with JNPT and Mumbai connectivity. We’re also building capability in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Nationally, improved port turnaround roughly half what it was a few years ago compounds this advantage in Gujarat and Maharashtra especially.
Q6. Sustainability is becoming an important part of logistics. What steps is TCI Group taking to reduce its environmental impact and support greener transportation?
It’s built into how we report and operate. We disclose against BRSR and align with UNGC, EcoVadis, CDP and ISO frameworks, and we’ve partnered with the IIM Bangalore Supply Chain Sustainability Lab to strengthen how we calculate transport emissions.
Operationally, our biggest step is the GIZ FASTR project, piloting zero-emission trucking toward a fleet of several hundred vehicles. Alongside that, we’re bringing retrofit trucks and EV vehicles into our fleet, investing in afforestation, and pairing all of this with fuel-efficient driving training under our Safe Safar programme and continued route optimisation to cut empty running.
Q7. Looking ahead, what are TCI Group’s plans for the renewable energy sector? Are there any new services, technologies or solutions that you plan to introduce for renewable energy customers?
We’re building renewable energy into a dedicated focus area expanding ODC-certified fleet and rigging capability for larger turbine components, deepening hazmat expertise for battery storage, and pursuing certifications like TAPA for high-value cargo security.
On technology, expect a fuller digital control tower rolled out across renewable energy accounts, continued growth of our FASTR zero-emission fleet, and early capability-building toward green hydrogen and ammonia logistics. And talent matters just as much as fleet or technology bringing Gen Z and Gen Alpha into a sector with real scope to build something for the country’s energy transition.
