DHL-owned Blue Dart Express will improve its coverage of rural India through a new alliance with the Vakrangee group, gaining access to tens of thousands of local retail outlets across the sub-continent.
In turn, Vakrangee Logistics will be able to offer last mile courier and logistics services on a PAN India basis, thus broadening its range of services, the two companies announced.
Vakrangee is a technology-driven company, focusing on creating India's largest network of last mile retail points-of-sale with a strong focus on rural areas. It operates the third largest franchisee network globally with more than 44,000 Vakrangee Kendras (retail points) in more than 17 Indian states. These retail points are designed to enable all Indians to have access to financial, social and other services.
Blue Dart Express, which is majority-owned by DHL, has an extensive domestic network covering over 35,000 locations, mostly focused on urban areas.
In the first phase, Vakrangee Logistics in collaboration with Blue Dart plans to roll out last mile delivery services across selected locations in the state of Maharashtra, which will further be extended to cover the entire network of Vakrangee Kendras across the country.
Shailendra Jindal, CEO, Vakrangee Logistics, said: “This strategic partnership is a game changer for the e-commerce industry in India that is struggling for delivery of goods to the large rural population of India. Blue Dart is a well-known brand and this tie-up is very important to us as we scale up our logistic services to provide courier booking and last mile delivery services to citizens across the country. This tie-up will also open up additional sources of revenue to our franchisees. Vakrangee Ltd. promises to give every Indian, their rightful access to a wide range of modern-day products and services.”
Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express Limited, commented: “At Blue Dart our vision is to establish continuing excellence in delivery capabilities focused on the individual customer and this partnership with Vakrangee Logistics Private Limited enables us to expand our reach to the hitherto unserved and underserved areas across the country. We have evolved an infrastructure unique in the country today to provide express delivery services through our exceptional people, processes and superior technology. The 44,000 plus Vakrangee Kendras will further expand our reach and delivery capabilities that could give new dimensions to the e-commerce logistics.”
