TNT India plans to broaden its express delivery network to smaller cities expanding its presence inthe country in line with its global strategy of building quality network in emerging markets,
Indian newspaper Business Standard reported.The company’s expansion plans follow the integration of TNT Speedage, its Indian road expressdivision into TNT’s global information technology system, called Global Link, and its re-brandingto TNT.
TNT aims to buy sites covering a total of around 37,200 sqm in the next three years to expandits hub and spoke distribution network in addition to its existing 18,600 sqm in the five majorcities of Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Kolkata, the newspaper wrote.
Abhik Mitra, managing director at TNT India, said: “We have set up hubs in these cities andwill be expanding them further so that each hub will further connect with 20-30 depots (spokes)around them. We are looking to set up warehouses in major cities to cater to the requirements ofour customers.”
“We will be pumping in additional investment in India over the next couple of years to carryout expansion of the network in all tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns in India. We have consumedmost of the €100 million investment announced for India two years ago and are in need of freshfunds to complete the expansion of our network,” he added.
According to Mitra, the major growth drivers for the company’s business in India aretelecoms, retail, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, automobile and auto components andhigh-technology sectors. TNT India today claims to have a market share of 18% in internationalexpress cargo market, 16-17% share in road express business and about 5% in domestic air expressbusiness.
TNT acquired Speedage Express Cargo Services, one of the Indian road express companies, inSeptember 2006. It has successfully completed the integration of 168 Speedage locations on GlobalLink, its tracking software, and has rebranded Speedage services as TNT.
