Dharmendra Gangrade: Giving Logistics a Voice at L&T

By Luke King

Dharmendra Gangrade, head of Larsen & Toubro’s Logistics Management Center, has spent more than two decades mastering the logistics industry. Here’s how he rose to the top of one of the world’s leading EPC firms.

From Issue 1, 2025 of Breakbulk Magazine.

(7-minute read)

For Larsen and Toubro – one of Asia’s biggest EPCs and a titan of Indian industry – the COVID pandemic provided an opportunity to completely reimagine its logistics function.

“Suddenly logistics entered the boardroom,” says Dharmendra Gangrade, architect of an ambitious plan to centralize and integrate the logistics needs of more than 30 L&T business groups under 14 independent verticals, spanning everything from construction of infrastructure to power, energy, minerals and metals, defense, transport, heavy engineering, and much more besides.

“During COVID the importance of logistics really came to the forefront,” says Gangrade, who served as head of logistics for L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering during the pandemic. “Of course, we wanted to be a boardroom topic, but for a good reason. Here, the situation was not so good with huge delays, uncertainty and increased freight, of course.

“There was an appreciation that logistics is complex, and that logistics plays a very important role in the profitable growth of the EPC business, but as in many companies, the board really started taking note of what we do, what we can do better, during the pandemic.

“So I had the opportunity to let the management know that there were pockets of excellence within the logistics function, but 30+ business groups meant 30+ different logistics teams, different estimates, different decisions not aligned with each other.

“When COVID happened, multiple logistics heads started to meet on one floor, solving problems together. Of course, the oil and gas sector is different to the power sector, which is different to buildings and factories and so on. But then I saw the opportunity: Why can’t L&T have one logistics voice?

“Rather than pockets of logistics excellence, we now have a center of excellence.”

Gangrade was charged with consolidating the various logistics teams and establishing a Mumbai-based centralized Logistics Management Center of more than 200 supply chain professionals, which he now heads. In all, L&T has close to a US$1 billion direct and indirect freight exposure on a US$25 billion turnover.

Appointed project director for optimization of logistics processes across L&T, Gangrade said he searched internationally for “best-in-class practices” to build the Center. “It’s a nodal agency,” says Gangrade, “so all process compliance, new initiatives, cost optimization and interaction with the external agencies happen in this office.”

Industry Expert

A seasoned logistics expert, Gangrade was able to draw on his extensive industry experience – both in India and abroad – to coordinate such a major project.

Born and raised in a small town near Varanasi – “Considered the holiest and cleanest city in India, I take great pride in that,” he says – Gangrade completed schooling in Indore and later graduated from Savitribai Phule University in Pune, Maharashtra, where he completed an MBA in marketing.

His working life began in the late 1990s when he moved to Mumbai and took up brand management roles at automotive companies including Kinetic and Mahindra & Mahindra.

In 2001, he landed a position at Tata Motors’ commercial vehicle division – where he got his first taste of the logistics business. “I dealt with a lot of automobile commercial vehicle owners and huge haulage vehicles. Then I started sensing that there’s something important called logistics.”

He subsequently held logistics roles at Reliance Industries Limited – another giant of the Indian industrial scene. “I was part of the Reliance Industries petroleum business and they were setting up large-scale petroleum plants as well as gas stations across the length and breadth of the country,” he recalls. “I became responsible for route management and, in the petroleum business, the route planning manager plays a vital role since the price of the fuel is defined by the government.

“You can’t charge even a penny more for fuel, but how you can make a profit is by optimizing your cost. The route becomes very important and so there used to be a lot of dependency on enhancing the profitability through proper route management.

“Suddenly I was contributing directly to the profitability of the company, and I started loving my work in logistics.”

A move to Reliance Retail saw Gangrade appointed head of primary transportation operations. “This was a massive undertaking, coordinating the movement of about 800 trucks that were being loaded every day to serve more than 1,200 stores across the country.”

Gangrade also had a short stint with Pidilite, the makers of Fevicol brand adhesives and known for their witty advertisements, as head of logistics for their international business. There, he says, he started to understand global shipping and cross-border logistics.

His career really took off with a move to Technip – the French EPC – in 2013. “That’s when my global experience began,” he says. “I was based out of Mumbai, but was managing global projects. So there were projects in Russia, others in Africa, India, Middle East, as well as shipments for U.S. projects.

“I was moving super cargo of 5,000 tonnes, real heavy-lifts. There were full air charters and I started dealing with the owners of the heavy-lift vessels and freight forwarders all around the world. Technip gave me a fantastic platform to understand, learn and contribute to the global project cargo sector.”

His move to L&T in 2018 was born of a desire to “paint on a larger canvas” and he landed in the hydrocarbon business as head of logistics. “It was a very natural fit for me to head the logistics for L&T’s hydrocarbon energy business. The focus was a little bit more towards the Middle East and India-centric, but there was a much larger volume and a huge variety of shipments.

“At any given point in time, me and my team would work on 20-odd projects while the supplier base numbered more than 80 countries. And the interesting thing was that, at Technip, I was dealing with a smaller number of freight forwarders and service providers. All competent, global suppliers, of course, but a smaller number nonetheless.

“At L&T, we were dealing with a very large set of vendors. It was part of the strategy, and we were dealing with hundreds of logistics service providers. It was a big challenge.”

Digital Transformation

When COVID hit in 2020, L&T’s logistics transformation began in earnest, dubbed “LIFT,” short for “Logistics integration for transformation.” Key to the success of the LIFT project was the decision to introduce an integrated logistics management system (ILMS) capable of supporting the requisition, procurement, distribution, transportation, receipt and tracking of goods worldwide.

Gangrade, in charge of the digital transformation project, recalls: “Management set out a very clear objective that we must optimize our logistics cost across L&T, and that we must operate on one single system.

“All our logistics resources must become portable, which means that somebody working with one business unit should be easily able to operate in any other business unit, and he or she should be easily transferable to any part of the world. Whether you’re in Argentina, India, or Japan, if you have a smartphone in your hand, you know what to do.”

Following a global search, e2log was selected to provide the digital muscle required to meet L&T’s expectations around data visibility and logistics performance while EY, the professional services firm, joined as a consulting partner to advise on process standardization and operating models to suit the digital transformation. The e2log relationship actually developed following a meeting at Breakbulk Americas,” said Gangrade, underscoring the value of attending Breakbulk’s global events.

“We had multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that we’ve integrated with e2log and all logistics activities now happen on this system – from the smallest pin to the largest platforms.”

Showing me the new system at L&T’s head office in Mumbai, Gangrade explained the benefits the company is already seeing from its investment in the e2log transportation management platform. “It’s hugely increased transparency around our processes,” he said. “All our advance planning and RFQ management is here, all of the execution, from picking up the cargo anywhere in the world to delivering anywhere in the world – it’s all visible.

“Every shipment is tracked at a minute level, with all documentation available including invoices, packing lists, method statements, bills of lading – everything is there. In addition, you can upload all type of videos, photographs, and you can chat like you would in WhatsApp, so we have essentially done away with email in our logistics business.

“There’s even feedback on the logistics service providers, so once you’re done with your shipment, you can rate the logistics provider, just like you would when you use Uber or Lyft. Equally, the service provider can rate us, tell us about their experience of working with L&T.”

In summary, Gangrade said: “The major benefits are that operations efficiency has improved significantly, as has cost efficiency. Processes are now standardized, regardless of the cargo being shipped or the business group.

“Most importantly, we now have visibility of the cargo – and activity. Before, people had visibility of cargo, but not activity. Let’s say I’m picking up some cargo from Germany and bringing it to India. Until it is on the vessel, everything will be done by email, right? But here in the system, you can see whether cargo is ready for pickup or not. So that’s why we have broken down everything into an activity chart.

“Payments are also activity-based, so you can see when an invoice was submitted, validated, certified, went for payment release, and finally was paid. All is visible. It’s no longer merely track and trace of the cargo and seeing where my vessel is going. That’s not enough now.”

A Passion for History

Over lunch in L&T’s bustling onsite cafeteria – where all waste is weighed and digitally displayed to encourage staff to only take what they are going to eat – Gangrade tells me about his hobbies. He “loves to visit historical sites across the globe,” and has a “deep interest” in learning world history, he says.

“I’m a cricket lover like any other Indian, but besides that, I play table tennis. I won multiple championships in my youth, so table tennis is my first love when it comes to sports.

“At home, gardening is something which I love the most. Mumbai is a city full of concrete but, fortunately, my apartment has a terrace and I really enjoy working on my terrace garden. I have two daughters (aged 14 and 20) and they both love to support me with that.”

Open to New LSPs

Before I leave, Gangrade tells me of another innovation, L&T’s recently-launched online portal that lists all active logistics opportunities, and shares some good news for would-be L&T service providers.

“L&T is open to add new vendors that are competent and capable,” he says. “If somebody wants to come in and be a logistics service provider, they are very welcome. Naturally, before they come to L&T, I would expect them to do some research on our business because it’s not merely transporting goods from A to B. Our cargoes are very precious and expensive, and they have very long lead items. But we want to deal with all sorts of players.

“And now, LSPs can now do cross-service for our other business groups as well. Earlier, there were more than 30 business groups, each one had their own suppliers and their own vendor registration. Now, it is centralized – so people no longer have to keep knocking the doors and asking whom to contact.

“We want everybody to visit logistics.larsentoubro.com – the whole gamut of L&T logistics opportunities is there. There are no barriers to registration as a potential service provider.”

“Golden Time” for Shipping

As our meeting draws to a close, Gangrade urges the project cargo community to embrace the opportunities provided by AI and digitalization, and appreciate what he calls a “golden time” for shipping and logistics.

“Young people are starting to see logistics as an opportunity because it’s no longer a back-office job. Rather, it’s opportunity for them to be out in front and travel globally, domestically, everywhere.

“We’ve never before seen such a golden time for supply chain, global shipping and logistics. When the prime minister talks about it, top leaders are talking about it, that means there’s something in it. COVID brought the supply chain function to the fore.”

He added: “I’m an advocate, a promoter of technology in logistics. Whether we like it or not, it is going to happen. The question now is what AI can do, and what others can do. The mundane job of data collection and data analysis can be performed by AI, which otherwise takes a lot of time. But decisions will ultimately be taken by the individual. Executive judgment will always be there.

“There can be recommendations from AI, but recommendations have to be validated. In addition, the cargo volumes are increasing so much in every segment of the business that logisticians will find it very difficult to say that there will be a threat to their job.

“Instead, people should embrace the digital transformation, or the use of AI, as an enabler. It will enable people to experience growth, and their high-value judgment will be even more important.

“As technology advances, the shipping and logistics sector cannot be left behind – our heavy-lift and project cargo sector cannot be left behind.”

L&T is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide group of shippers involved in the engineering, manufacturing and production of project cargo. The next in-person meet-up for BGSN members will be at Breakbulk Middle East 2025 on Feb 10-11 at the Dubai World Trade Center.