Tag: India

It will no longer be just passengers who’ll enjoy the comfort of travelling in air-conditioned trains. Now even your parcels – small, medium and large – booked with the Department of Posts (DoP) will be delivered across the country via the network of AC trains running in India.

In an effort to revive its parcel business, India Post has inked a deal – the Joint Parcel Product initiative – with Indian Railways. As per the MoU, to be signed soon, while the Railways will reserve a space in all Shatabdis and Rajdhanis for these parcels, India Post will ensure the pick up and delivery part of it.

Over the last five years DoP has seen a decline of over 77% in the unregistered parcel business with revenues coming down to a mere Rs 7.45 crore in 2004-05, as against Rs 32.70 crore in 2000-01.

Explaining that the tie-up would be on a revenue sharing basis, Khan said: “India Post is losing a huge chunk of its revenues from the parcel business to private players in the industry and the initiative will help us cope up with our deficit of Rs 1,100 crore by 2011.”

According to the last industry survey done in 2003, logistics and parcel business in India is to the tune of Rs 75,000 crore and DoP contributes a minuscule 0.5% or just Rs 400 crore to it. No wonder, the department is gearing up to establish a strong foothold in the parcel and logistics business.

The multi-crore courier services sector, dominated by the multi-nationals and indigenous private players, will soon see India Post emerging as a key player in the arena.

Come Wednesday and the India Post’s fresh initiative ‘ Mail Business Centre’ on this front will unfold. Delhi will be the first among the major cities to have three such stops catering to the bulk mailing requirements of the corporate and government organisations.

To begin with, first of the three such centres will become functional at Foreign Post Office near ITO. The other two MBCs will be located at Rail Mail Service Bhawan and Army Mail Postal Service Centre, Vasant Vihar.

In what could be perceived as image make-over for the India Post, its General Manager, Business Development, John Samuel, described the MBCs as “one stop mailing centres” primarily eyeing the corporate clients. Soon all major cities of the country will have this facility, he said adding : “Basically, we are adopting a businesslike approach to woo the customers by providing an efficient service.”

Believe it or not, trained Marketing Executives and Key Accounts Managers will be available at these centres to interact with the clients and study their needs. They will hold business negotiations and offer financial packages to suit their requirements.

Not only will it be faster and more accountable, it will also replace the prevalent system of sending the bulk mail and parcels through ordinary post, Samuel said.