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India Post launches guaranteed next day delivery in 6 cities
Pricing for the 24-hour Speed Post service (documents only) starts at ₹38 for local deliveries up to 50 gm, and goes up to ₹186 for consignments weighing 251-500 gm over distances exceeding 2,000 km
The Department of Posts (DoP) on Tuesday rolled out next-day delivery across six cities, namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. The services were launched at an event in New Delhi by communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. The minister inaugurated three new offerings under Phase 1 including 24-hour Speed Post, 24-hour Speed Post Parcel delivery, and 48-hour Speed Post.
Scindia said that under Phase 2, the new services will be expanded to more cities by September-end, with an international rollout targeted by March 2027.
Calling it a “red and a yellow letter day” for DoP, Scindia suggested that the broader aim is to position India Post as a key fulfillment and logistics partner for e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Shiprocket, marking a shift from its traditional mail-centric operations toward the fast-growing parcel delivery segment.
Also Read: India Post to roll out 24, 48-hour Speed Post from January 2026: Scindia
Pricing for the 24-hour Speed Post service (documents only) starts at ₹38 for local deliveries up to 50 grams, and goes up to ₹186 for consignments weighing 251-500 grams over distances exceeding 2,000 km. Pricing for Speed Post parcel delivery starts at ₹200 for up to 500 grams and goes up to ₹990 for 4.5 to 5kg.
Scindia indicated a strategic pivot for India Post, stressing that while parcels currently account for just about 5% of its business, they are set to become the organisation’s primary growth driver. Citing a 44% rise in parcel volumes over the past 11 months, he underscored the need to accelerate this momentum by expanding capacity and improving service delivery.
“Demand is coming from small cities and villages. The e-commerce market, which is about ₹11 lakh crore, will grow to ₹30 lakh crore by 2030, which is hardly three years away. And when that market grows, who will be the fulfillment agency for that market? There is no one better to fulfil that demand than India Post,” he added.
In case the delivery isn’t made within the stipulated timelines of 24 or 48 hours, India Post will return the customer’s money. Additional services include dedicated processing windows, delivery on holidays and Sundays, specialised packaging, secure OTP-based services, end-to-end tracking priority air transmission, and real-time tracking.
“Where war reaches, my postman reaches. Where natural calamities occur, my postman reaches. Where there is a happy moment or a bereavement, whether anyone else shows up or not, my postman always gets there,” said Scindia at the event.
