New Delhi, March 17: India Post has entered into a joint venture with the Centurion Bank of Punjab to provide foreign exchange services. The pilot project will offer the services from 31 head post offices in 11 states.

India Post has a full-fledged money changing licence, which authorises post offices to undertake currency exchange. This is the first time that the department of posts (DoP) is entering the foreign exchange market.

“The market size of travel-related foreign exchange in the country exceeds Rs 66,000 crore and is growing very rapidly,” said DoP secretary I.M.G. Khan.

He added that the need for foreign exchange services had increased with the growth of the tourism industry.

The DoP is also planning to tie up with banks to disburse housing loans in the rural areas. “With a network of more than 1,55,000 post offices, the DoP can provide the facility to the people in the rural areas,” said Khan.