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Enthused by the response received by India Post for its Gangajal scheme, the department now plans to start international delivery given the demand from the non-resident Indians (NRIs).
The scheme was started in July wherein bottled water from the river Ganges, or Gangajal, is being sold online through India Post e-commerce platform and offline through head post offices as well as circle post offices. Till date, around 100,000 bottled Gangajal have been dispatched across the country.
“The response has been tremendous. There’s so much demand for bottled Gangajal from south India as well as NRIs. We will soon start delivering abroad. We are in discussions with customs department of various countries,” said a senior official from the ministry of communications and information technology requesting anonymity.
Gangajal bottled at Gangotri and Rishikesh are presently available for sale. The employees of the department, mainly from the Uttarakhand region, have been involved for collecting, dispatching as well as delivering bottled Gangajal. Bottles are packed in 200ml and 500ml size. While Gangajal from Rishikesh cost Rs.15 for 200 ml and Rs.22 for 500ml, water sourced from Gangotri cost Rs.25 for 200ml and Rs.35 for 500ml.
“A plan is being worked out in accordance with the custom rules of other countries and will be finalised in the next few months,” said a department of posts official, who also did not want to be named.
For international deliveries the cost may go up because of logistics and Speed Post charges. The Speed Post charges and price will vary depending upon the country. India Post has a network of 154,939 post offices and an employee base of 460,457.
“We do not plan to outsource any work in this project. And the prices have been kept nominal to keep religious sentiments in the mind. We will just recover our packaging and dispatch costs,” said the second India Post official quoted above.
Queries emailed to the spokesperson of the ministry of communications on 5 September remained unanswered.
The department is using its vast network spread across the country to deliver Gangajaland other e-commerce parcels. E-commerce has come as a boon for India Post which was earlier struggling to find its relevance after the onset of technology and competition.
Experts say the reach of India Post is unmatched which is why even the e-commerce giants are relying heavily on their network.
“India Post is using its huge workforce to rise to the challenge. It is finding its relevance with e-commerce coming into play. Postmen are the drivers for bridging the rural and the urban divide and their access and reach is unmatched,” said Hemant joshi, partner at consultancy Deloitte Haskins and Sells.
“The postal network along with the new technology interface will become very powerful and banking will be a part of it. A big digital revolution will happen through this across India, especially in the rural areas,” he added.
The cash on delivery collected by India Post for e-commerce companies reached Rs1,500 crore at the end of March 2016 compared with Rs.500 crore in 2014-15, and a meagre Rs.100 crore in 2013-14.
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