Eastern India emerging as high-potential last-mile delivery hub, says report
Eastern India is fast emerging as one of the country’s most promising last-mile delivery corridors, propelled by major infrastructure upgrades, rising consumption in smaller cities and deeper e-commerce penetration, according to an industry report released on Friday. The Express Industry Council of India (EICI), in its Express Industry in India 2025 study prepared with KPMG in India as knowledge partner, said the region is benefiting from the rapid expansion of national highways, stronger rural road networks and decentralised air-cargo capacity that are reshaping logistics access across West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.
National highway length has grown from about 91,000 km in FY14 to nearly 1,45,000 km by mid-2024, while India’s rural road network now exceeds 7,33,000 km. “These transport upgrades are critical for improving delivery reach into deep rural and semi-urban Eastern India,” said the report. The expansion of regional airports is also strengthening the corridor’s logistics readiness. India has added 85 airports in the past decade—many of them in Tier II and Tier III cities—raising the cargo share of non-metro airports from 18% to 24%.
The EICI study points to a sharp rise in shipment volumes from smaller cities, with Tier III locations now contributing around 40% of all e-commerce deliveries. Cities such as Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Siliguri and Patna are driving demand for quicker last-mile turnaround, prompting logistics players to increase the use of hybrid delivery fleets, dark stores and micro-warehousing.
“Eastern India is poised to become a major engine of last-mile delivery growth. With stronger road and air networks, expanding Tier II and Tier III consumption and increasing e-commerce penetration, the region is entering a pivotal stage of logistics development,” EICI CEO Vijay Kumar said. He added that the findings highlight the need for investments in freight-smart urban planning, multimodal logistics parks and technology integration to fully unlock the region’s potential.
With inputs from PTI
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