Package deal

Mumbai, Jan. 4: The highly competitive domestic express sector will soon see another multinational, TNT, is entering the market in a big way.

The Dutch express service major, however, already has a subsidiary, TNT India, that provides only the international express distribution as of now. The multinationals that have operations in India include UPS, Federal Express and DHL.

TNT will be yet another player in the crowded domestic market that is dotted with more than 2000 players from the organised, semi-organised and unorganised segments.

Its entry into the domestic movement of cargo is being seen as a sign that India?s express industry has come of age.

Experts are projecting a robust growth ahead due to the strong performance of the country?s economy. Moreover, there is a wide platform available for cargo transportation ? the aviation sector has witnessed the entry of aggressive new players.

The activity in the express sector is expected to increase at a faster pace in the coming months as a few of these airlines are vying for a bigger presence in the air freight market.

Though TNT is expected to unveil its domestic plans later this month, industry experts aver that the company has high ambitions. ?TNT has an advantage since it is already operating in India. Hence it has a fair knowledge of the market, which it can leverage to offer an array of services both for the domestic and international distribution,? an official from a rival company said on condition of anonymity. Sources added TNT has also been successful in poaching employees from some of its rivals in the Indian market over the last couple of months.

Incidentally, TNT has been in the news recently on speculations that it may walk away with a stake in the Secunderabad-based integrated logistics solutions provider, Gati. This has, however, been denied by senior management of both these companies.

The domestic express industry handles two kinds of consignments ? documents and non-documents. The documents account for the larger part of the revenue for the organised players and its share is expected to rise in the near future.