Gateway Rail Freight Limited today announced the appointment of Mr Vishal Sharma as its Chief executive officer (CEO). Mr. Sharma joins with extensive experience in the logistics industry. His most recent role was the Managing Director of Tuscan Ventures, a logistics focused private equity firm. Prior to Tuscan, Mr. Sharma was with AP Moller Maersk, the world’s largest container line, for over 13 years. During his time at Maersk Line, he held multiple positions including Business head of the Container Division in India, head of Vietnam operations and the Director-Group Strategy based out of Copenhagen.
Commenting on the new appointment, Prem Kishan Gupta, Chairman, Gateway Rail, said, “Increase in international trade is expected to drive container volume growth in India. Gateway Rail, with strategically located terminals, is ideally situated to capitalise on the opportunity. Vishal Sharma has a deep understanding of the container logistics business and strong commercial acumen making him an ideal candidate to lead the next wave of growth at Gateway Rail”.
Mr. Sharma’s appointment as CEO completes the top team at Gateway Rail. He will be leading a strong management team comprising of experienced professionals from CONCOR, Railways, Shipping and the Ports sector.
“I am excited by the opportunity to build an industry leader. Gateway Rail has assembled an impressive management team and I look forward to working with them to help the company realise its potential.” said Vishal Sharma, the newly appointed CEO.
Gateway Rail is a subsidiary of publicly listed firm Gateway Distriparks Ltd. In August 2010, Blackstone Private equity invested INR 3 billion, giving them right to acquire between 37.3 – 49.9% of Gateway Rail Freight Limited.
About GatewayRail Freight Ltd (GatewayRail)
GatewayRail is a rail logistics-solutions company, engaged in rail transportation of cargo in containers and operation of dry ports. GatewayRail is India’s largest private sector container train operator. It operates two rail-linked Inland Container Depots (ICD’s) - one at Gurgaon in NCR and the other one in Ludhiana in Punjab handling EXIM & domestic cargo and is developing a third one at Faridabad in NCR. GatewayRail is a subsidiary of the listed company, Gateway Distriparks Ltd (GDL) which operates port-side container freight stations (CFS) near JNPT, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Vizag and Kochi. It is also in cold chain business through its subsidiary, Snowman Logistics Limited, a joint venture with Mitsubishi and IFC.
Further information is available at www.gatewayrail.co.in.