The meteoric rise of Blue Dart

From humble beginnings, handling mainly inter- national air cargo traffic, India's Blue Dart has grown in the 24 years since its inception into South Asia's largest integrated air express courier and package distribution company.
India's largest domestic air express operator, based in Chennai, south India, has been linked with global giants throughout its history but made its mark only when it realised in the early 90s the opportunities the Indian domestic market offered, despite the country's poor infrastructure and regulatory nightmare.
Blue Dart was launched in November 1983 in partnership with UK-based express company Gelco Express International, which was subsequently acquired in 1984 by US express operator Federal Express. Blue Dart's tie-up with FedEx lasted until 2004. The two parted company that year reportedly after a fallout between management. Blue Dart was that same year approached by another global express player - DHL - and they formed a partnership. Two years later DHL acquired 81 percent of Blue Dart.
One of the main reasons DHL took over Blue Dart was because of the strategic fit, Blue Dart's senior vice-president, marketing and projects, Tulsi Mirchandaney, told Cargonews Asia.
Blue Dart had their own distribution network even before the DHL tie-up and there has been no shake-up in management since the takeover.
Asked why it is called Blue Dart, she said the founders chose "blue" as in blue chip or blue skies and "dart" because it stands for accuracy.
Explaining the meteoric rise of Blue Dart, Mirchandaney said the company made a survey 11 years ago to probe the Indian business mindset. It revealed that the key factors that contributed to the satisfaction of the customers were reliability, and, more importantly, strategic relationship.
12/05/07 Ken Gangwani/Cargonews Asia, Hong Kong

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Categories: Cargo May 2007