India Post and Railways are in the process of working together to tap the parcel business opportunity in the country, specially in rural areas, Union Minister Manoj Sinha said.
"Recently, there was a joint meeting meeting of Railways and Posts. We have said that you (Railways) have transport and Posts has infrastructure. Both the departments should jointly make efforts to attract parcel business in rural areas in a big way," Communications Minister Manoj Sinha told PTI in an interview.
He said that Railways has 3-4 per cent share of the parcel business in rural areas, while that of India Post is estimated to be in decimals.
However, the minister said that India Post has wrested a major share of parcel business from e-commerce companies, adding that there are ample opportunities in the country.
The Department of Posts (DoP) has established 57 Integrated Parcel Booking Centres and upgraded infrastructure of 27 Parcel Booking Centres during 2013-14 to 2015-16 with total expenditure of Rs 22.58 crore.
The DoP is also selling Gangajal in the price range of Rs 101-151 per bottle.
"People don't want to bathe in Ganga during rainy season for known reasons. Gangotri water is pure. There are many people who give importance to Gangajal due to their religious faith. The postal department is delivering Gangajal from Gangotri and Rishikesh. There is massive demand for it across the country," Sinha said.
Talking about India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), Sinha said the first meeting of the postal bank board was held on September 1 and search for CEO has started.
"CEO will be appointed soon. A retired managing director of a nationalised bank has been given charge for the time being to look after the work of the payments bank," Sinha said.
He said that government is working as per set timelines and will open the first IPPB branch by March and 650 branches by September 2017.
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