Air express and courier firm Blue Dart Express said today, that it plans to invest about Rs 1000 crore in the short- to medium-term to expand its air infrastructure. The company will expand its aircraft fleet, add material handling equipment and ramp up ground handling facilities.
The company now operates four Boeing 737s and two Boeing 757s. Blue Dart also plans to launch a new ground express service which will expand its capacity to 17,500 locations from 14,600 locations now.
Blue Dart Express is South Asia’s leading integrated air express carrier and premium logistics-services provider. The company has the most extensive domestic network covering over 14,000 locations, and services more than 220 countries and territories worldwide through sales alliance with DHL, the global brand name in express distribution services.
ICRA and Indian Overseas Bank, a premier nationalised bank headquartered in Chennai, have signed a MoU under which the company will assign ratings to the Bank’s loans and its other exposures under the standardized approach of RBI’s new capital adequacy framework for basel-II. Last week we had reported in news flash that ICRA would rate loans of India’s largest bank, the State Bank of India.
The MoU between ICRA and the Bank seeks to deliver benefits to the Bank as well its clients. For the Bank, ICRA’s line of credit ratings would assist in implementing RBI’s new capital adequacy framework under basel-II. For the client, an ICRA rating may place the rated entity in a superior position in terms of faster loan processing and to obtain competitive credit terms from the Bank.