Spoton, a logistics company wholly owned by private equity firm India Equity Partners, plans to start domestic air cargo services. The company, which has a strong network in the road delivery service, plans to launch the air service in the first quarter of next year, according to Abhik Mitra, Managing Director, Spoton; and Platform CEO, IEP (Logistics Investments).

Like its competitor DTDC, Spoton will have tie ups with airlines to secure space in passenger flights for cargo transport. The company guarantees to deliver the parcels in one day. The initial plan is to cover the top 30 locations in the country, he said.

Spoton was launched as an independent business on October 2 by India Equity Partners in the second phase of its acquisition of TNT Domestic Road Express.

Mauritius-based India Equity Partners acquired the domestic road express business of TNT India in December 2011 and operated it as Startrek Logistics, which was later rebranded as Spoton. After the acquisition of TNT Domestic Road Express, it took nearly three quarters for Spoton to stabilise. First, the company hired senior professionals, and then introduced its own Information Technology system. Having stabilised, it is time to focus on growth, he said. At the time of the acquisition, the company had around 4,000 customers, nearly 900 employees, vendors and business associates. There has not been much change since then, he said.

Mitra said Spoton is targeting a 10-15 per cent growth to around Rs 220 crore for the year ending December 2012, he said. The organised road express industry is currently worth about Rs 2,500 crore. Of this, 70-80 per cent is held by companies such as Gati and Safex, with Spoton already rubbing shoulders with these companies to join the industry’s big league.

raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in

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