India Post Launches Speed Post 24 and 48: Check Details Here

Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia introduced the new Speed Post 24 and Speed Post 48, two high quality express post services, which assured delivery at 24 and 48 hours of business respectively, along major routes within the country. 

The launch is accompanied by the infrastructure improvements, such as the opening of a renovated sub-post office (₹2 lakh cost) and laying a foundation stone of a new one (₹1.11 crore). 

These programs highlight how India Post has transformed itself to become a competitor within the dynamic e-commerce and logistics industry by focusing on its origin as a traditional mail service.

The services are aimed at businesses, government transactions and individual users that require the reliability of parcel movement in time-sensitive services which make India post compete with the likes of FedEx, DHL, and domestic giants such as DTDC and Blue Dart.

What are the Specifications and Coverage of New Services?

Speed Post 24 offers next business day delivery of high priority products, which mostly include:

• Metro-level shipments (e.g. Delhi to Gurgaon).

• Large metro-metro connections (Delhi-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad).

• Hopscotch city pairs with direct flights/rail connectivity (Key Tier-1).

Speed Post 48 is expanded to include two-business-day guarantee over extended domestic routes, such as:

• Metro to the Tier-2 cities (e.g., Mumbai to Lucknow).

• Local hubs (e.g. Chennai to Coimbatore).

The first rollout will cover more than 1000 pin codes and further rollout will be done on a quarterly basis depending on the performance of the routes.

The two services have end-to-end tracking through India Post mobile application, SMS alerts and web portal. There can be a refund policy in case of delays beyond any of the promised schedules, and supported by service-level agreements (SLAs). 

Pricing is still high end, estimated 20-30 percent over standard Speed Post, (₹50-200 base), and comes with insurance up to ₹1 lakh, and reverse logistics choices.

The current network of 1.36 lakh post offices (90% is rural) and 3.5 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks that India post has guaranteed last-mile coverage that competitors can only penetrate 20-30% of rural India.

Local Infrastructure Concentration

India Post rural revitalization on the Pichhor event:

• New Facility: New counters, digital kiosk integration (₹2 lakh investment).

• New Build: 1,500 sq ft building with parcel hubs, training centers (₹1.11 crore).

• Minister Scindia highlighted Madhya Pradesh as a logistics pilot state by connecting its services with PM Gram Sadak Yojana and ONDC e-commerce.

This goes in line with a ₹5,000 crore national modernisation fund with a 10,000 refurbished post offices by 2028.

Strategic Environment During Logistics Boom

The Indian logistics market is estimated to be worth 215 billion (2025), and it is expanding by 10-12% a year due to e-commerce (₹4.5 lakh crore GMV) and MSMEs. 

India Post is the one that processes 10 crore Speed Post annually (₹3,000 crore revenue), securing 15 percent express market. The new services include pain points:

• Punctuality: 95% on time target compared to the current 85%.

• Competition: I undercuts the private players on rural access/cost.

• E-Governance: Provides assistance to e-way bills, DBT proofs, judicial documents.

Scindia called them new standards of reliability and they are combined with DakPay (digital payments) and IPPB banking.