Its FedEx India subsidiary will provide the next business day express services, initially offering delivery to 50 major Indian cities from 14 cities.

The U.S.-based integrator cited growing opportunities in the Indian market and the rising GDP for launching the service. The move comes 12 years after it established an international air cargo operations base in India.

Indranil Sen, FedEx managing director of marketing, middle east, Indian subcontinent & Africa, said: “To start with, we will cater to all important centers which constitute 60 per cent India’s GDP. We will soon expand. India is a high growth market and it is driven by domestic consumption.”

This latest domestic express service launch brings to four countries outside North America where FedEx offers such service. The others are China, the UK and Mexico.

The move means FedEx will now vie for business with BlueDart, the Indian arm of DHL, as well as compete with Captain GR Gopinath’s Deccan 360 venture.

In a related move, FedEx Trade Networks, an international ocean and air freight forwarder, has opened seven new offices bringing its total to 14 for the year to date. The new facilities are in Xiamen, Tianjin, Dalian and Ningbo, China; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Paris and Amsterdam.