The face of Indian postal department is changing, under pressure from modern communication systems. Gone are the days when post offices were used for screening and distributing letters. Today, it is entering into every possible business segment, be it money exchange or logistics. With a network of 1,55,516 post offices in every nook and corner of the country, India Post is all set to conquer new frontiers.

Indian Post used to be one of the prominent pillars of the country’s communication infrastructure. This, however, is no longer the case with the emergence of telecom and Internet as the preferred mode of communication. Courier services have also made a dent into the revenues of the postal department. With an aim to revive its past glory, the Department of Post (DoP) has planned a series of initiatives including rapid induction of information technology, introduction of logistics post air, tie-up with commercial banks and launch of new mailing and money-order schemes.

The department also plans to strategically leverage its vast network of over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country, the largest in the world. From railway reservation to spreading education on the government’s social sector schemes, the neighborhood post office plans to become a single gateway for almost all official purposes.

Further, with an aim to leverage upon its vast real estate assets, the Indian post is also planning to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The SPV would be responsible for planning and execution of commercial utilisation of vacant plots of land and buildings. The special purpose vehicle would be a 100% subsidiary of the DoP.

“Commercial exploitation of the real estate properties would provide Indian Post the much needed revenue for taking the modernisation plans,” communications minister A Raja said.