Tag: India

Government to set up ATMs in post offices in India

Posted by | Oct 21, 2007 | |

In order to take economic development and technology to large masses of the country, government is contemplating to install especially designed Gramtells (rural ATMs) at post offices.

The suggestion to set up Gramtells at post offices formed part of the recommendations of the Steering Committee on Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation, which is being considered by the Planing Commission for incorporation in the Eleventh Plan (2007-12).
Gramtellers are rural ATM machines developed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. They operate by using smart cards and fingerprints in place of conventional personal identification numbers and magnetic cards.

“The post office network in the country should be used to deliver banking services, especially in the rural areas,” the Committee suggested.

They should further be encouraged to work as business facilitators and banking correspondents in accordance with Reserve Bank guidelines, it said.

The Common Service Centres (CSC), developed by the Information Technology Department to take electronic services to villages, may also be linked to post Offices to synergise the technology to handle financial products, the Steering Committee proposed.

It recommended that multi-purpose, unique ID-based smart card system should also be utilised for effective delivery of micro-credit.

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AFL, Singapore PE firm tie up for cargo airline

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

Cardinal Aviation Partners (CAP), a Singapore-based PE firm, has entered into an agreement with AFL Logistics, the logistics & supply chain management subsidiary of the Mumbai-based AFL group, to float a domestic cargo airline venture in India, Quickjet.

According to sources, CAP will hold majority stake in the venture while AFL Logistics will have a 13 pct stake. “We have entered into an agreement with CAP and intend to launch the service by December 2008,” said a top AFL executive, who requested anonymity.

The move is significant for AFL Logistics, as the company makes its entry into the air cargo space with this dedicated freighter service offering. As per the initial plan, Quickjet will flag off services with two Boeing 757s. The fleet will be expanded later, depending on the volumes.

AFL has been attempting to strengthen its logistics business in India since 2006. Earlier, the focus was on building warehousing capability. Of late, the logistics division has shifted its attention towards creating a strong road network in India along with the addition of more service offerings, with air cargo being the latest entrant.

According to sources close to the development, in a recent move, AFL Wiz has ended its 25 year franchisee alliance with DHL and has tied up with United Parcel service (UPS) as its franchisee in India. Under the arrangement, AFL Wiz will undertake pick up, delivery and offer credit facilities for international shipments of UPS customers in all locations over India.

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Blue Dart profit Rs. 7.7 million up by 33.27 pct

Posted by | Oct 16, 2007 | |

Blue Dart Express Limited, South Asia’s express courier and package distribution company, today declared its financial results for the 3rd Quarter ended September 30, 2007 at its Board Meeting held in Mumbai.

Income from operations for the 3rd quarter 2007 was Rs. 20.7 million, an increase of 17.44 pct over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, and cumulative profit for nine months was Rs. 7.7 million and increase of 33.27 pct over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express Limited said, ” The results validate our customers’ trust in us and we continue to be the most reliable distribution service provider in the country. To further this trust, last quarter we expanded our business profile to fortify our unique capability to offer the entire spectrum of express distribution solutions. With the reinforcement of ‘Surfaceline’, we have now expanded our reach to over 17,500 locations across the country”.

Blue Dart, today, is firmly positioned as the unrivalled leader in the organised domestic air express space and has robust plans in place to sustain and augment its leadership position. Looking ahead Mr. Khanna said “We are adding 58 new warehouses which means 1 mn Sq ft of additional warehousing space, 596 new road-route connections, increase in workforce and enhancement of technology solutions. We also plan to strengthen our air infrastructure and would be adding a B757 in the last quarter. We stand committed to our role of a trade facilitator and would continue to enable growths for a greater India.”

1 USD = 39.7950 INR

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India Post offices to serve Universal Service obligation

Posted by | Oct 12, 2007 | |

Over 155,000 post offices in India are ready to serve the Universal Service Obligation, according to Director of Postal services (Mail Business), WB Circle, Harpreet Singh.

“The main aim of the postal department now is to manage post as a business,” Singh said speaking at a Customers’ meet at Yogayog Bhavan here today on the eve of World Post Day.

Singh said that the postal department would have to learn from the competitors and technological partners the need to focus on revenue generating sectors. For this purpose, he said, post office network had to be proliferated.

In the 11th plan, he said, Automated Mail Delivery System would be launched in big cities like Kolkata and Delhi “and this completely metamorphose the whole system”

He said though the postal department was a loss-making one, it was wholeheartedly trying to break-even in near future.

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India: Post Office to have largest ATM network

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

NCR Corporation India, the automatic teller machine (ATM) manufacturer, is eyeing post office savings accounts as its growth area in the coming days.

Apart from commercial banks’ expanding ATM network, the company has identified the Indian Post, which has small savings account almost equal to all the banks taken together, as its next growth area.

“Worldwide, we are working with post offices. In India also we see them as high potential growth area,” the company’s Vice President (Global Operations), Rick Marquardt, told reporters here. In order to meet the increasing demand the company foresees in the domestic market, it has expanded its existing capacity from approximately 250-300 machines per day to 800-900 machines.

The new plant, set up adjacent to its existing plant in Puducherry, was inaugurated recently by Rick Marquardt.

C. Sivaramane, General Manager in India, said that the plant would also manufacture components that would be exported to the company’s manufacturing facilities in Hungary and China. Till date, NCR has invested USD 3.7 million (approximately Rs 15 crore) in India.

“We started manufacturing ATMs in India five years ago and till date have supplied to all the major banks in the country. The largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, has taken around 3,000 machines from us, followed by Canara Bank (1,000 machines),” Sivaramane said, adding that NCR was working on technologies through which ATMs could be used for mobile top-ups and ticketing.

In case of mobile top-ups, the mobile phone user can go to the ATM and after activating the machine with his password has to enter his mobile number.

The machine would immediately check his account balance and deduct the amount and his phone would be recharged while ticketing through the ATM would be something like e-ticketing, he explained.

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