Express firm Blue Dart to extend delivery network to every home in India
25 / 09 / 2018
Indian express airline and parcel delivery firm Blue Dart has revealed plans for a network expansion that will enable it to reach every home in India by December.
The DHL joint venture has decided to make the investment in response to rising demand for deliveries in tier II, III & IV towns in India.
The initiative was launched in January 2018 and since then Blue Dart has expanded its reach from 6,164 pin codes (post codes, ZIP codes) to 17,677 pin codes across the country, currently.
By December it hopes to have expanded this to more than 19,100 pin codes.
As part of the expansion, Blue Dart has opened over 939+ new facilities (called NBDO – New Blue Dart Offices) to cater to the large consumer base in rural and remote locations
The company added that the initiative is one of the biggest expansion drives it has undertaken.
As of September 2018, Blue Dart has achieved 100% pin code coverage in 16 states and union territories which includes; Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Goa, Telangana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Pondicherry, Daman & Diu, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
Blue Dart Express managing director Anil Khanna said: “As India’s leading logistics company, we are committed to delivering only the best for our customers. We are aggressively expanding our network to reach every Indian home by December 2018 to enable fast, efficient and reliable deliveries for both B2B and B2C customers.
“We are well on our way to cover all pin codes in India, with already 17,677+ pin codes and 100% pin code coverage in 16 states and union territories.
“Blue Dart’s strategy is in alignment with the Government’s Make in India vision and various state initiatives, to further enable business and generate employment across the country.”
The expansion is further evidence of the rapid growth of India’s e-commerce market. A recent report by Nasscom and PWC India suggests that the sector is currently worth around $35bn, but is expected to surpass the $100bn mark by 2022.
The government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign hopes to encourage foreign companies to set up production lines in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government hopes that by 2022 manufacturing output will represent 25% of the country’s GDP.
It is not just Blue Dart that is expanding services to meet expected growth in e-commerce and export demand.
Two weeks ago SpiceJet took delivery of its first freighter aircraft and outlined plans to establish an air cargo network in the country.
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