India Post will have own aircraft to meet private challenge
State-run India Post is seeking to beat growing competition from private courier companies by acquiring its own aircraft that would carry mail by the end of this month.
‘All these years, the postal department was considered to be a social service unit, but now we want to make it into a business unit. Our focus will be on the business clientele,’ said John Samuel, general manager, India Post.
The aircraft is being taken on wet lease from domestic carrier Indian.
All details of the new operation have been worked out and it would be just be a matter of days before the first plane carrying mails and parcels will take off. The aircraft will bear the India Post logo, while the color is still kept under wraps.
The postal department will start its operations focusing on the northeast states with a single aircraft, but has plans to increase its fleet in the days to come.
As night landing is not allowed in these states, the flight will operate in the daytime. The department intends to operate on the Kolkata-Guwahati-Agartala-Imphal route. It also plans to acquire a few more aircraft in future for other routes.
The new service will not only help deliver mail faster but also bring down overall postal charges.
While private couriers will find it difficult to match up the move, the postal department denies being under pressure from any competition.
‘We are an organization with an annual revenue of Rs.7,000 crore (USD 1.72 billion) and are far ahead of others. While they follow the benchmarks we have set, we too will follow some of their best practices.
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