Blue Dart sets sights on bigger e-commerce slice with cross-border delivery push

Mumbai: Blue Dart Express plans to launch a dedicated international cross-border ecommerce delivery product as early as next month, seeking to capture a larger share of India's fast-growing but fragmented global ecommerce trade, managing director Balfour Manuel said.

The company sees potential in major ecommerce corridors including the US, Europe and the UK, though Manuel did not specify the countries it will initially serve.

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Blue Dart plans to focus first on markets with strong existing trade flows rather than spread its network too thin. "We will go slow, but sure. We want to be the most reliable player in this space," Manuel said. The company is targeting lanes where demand is already high and expects to expand its reach over time.

Blue Dart could leverage parent DHL's global last-mile delivery network, commercial airlines and its own ground and air infrastructure to connect Indian sellers with overseas customers. Manuel said the company's network can provide transit times from locations across India, while the new product would be able to plug into both air and ground services depending on customer requirements.

The company is also betting on a more structured approach to a market Manuel described as highly fragmented. "Current industry is not only fragmented, it has no shape at all. So we will have a regimented flow," he said.

Ecommerce is Blue Dart's fastest-growing segment, with Manuel also pointing to strong growth across B2C, direct B2B, MSMEs, manufacturing, healthcare, electronics and automotive. Blue Dart's business is now roughly evenly split between air and ground, with ground growing faster, Manuel said.

The company is currently the third-largest player in the ground segment and wants to move into the No. 1 or No. 2 position in the express ground segment it operates in.

The opportunity is being supported by regulatory changes. The government removed the ₹10 lakh per-consignment value cap on commercial exports through the courier mode from April 1, following an announcement in the 2026-27 Budget. The move was aimed at making courier exports more viable for ecommerce exporters, particularly smaller businesses.

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Manuel said the removal of the cap could facilitate more trade and ecommerce. "The ₹10 lakh limit that has been removed through Express...is a big number for small customers," he said.

The government has also recently eased foreign-investment rules, allowing inventory-based ecommerce models backed by foreign investment exclusively to export goods manufactured or produced in India.

The change is intended to help Indian sellers access global markets, while restrictions on domestic inventory-based ecommerce remain in place.

The company expects to start small, with Manuel saying the new business could become a meaningful contributor over the next five years, without putting a number on its initial revenue contribution.