We plan to work very closely with Indian government, says UPS executive

UPS will invest $15-20 million in India and provide jobs for 1,000 people by 2025, he added.

Global shipping and logistics major United Parcel Service (UPS) inaugurated its first India Technology Centre in Chennai on Monday, the third such centre after the US and Europe. DH’s ETB Sivapriyan spoke to Bala Subramanian, EVP & Chief Digital and Technology Officer, UPS, on the company’s future plans in India. Edited excerpts:

Why did UPS choose India for setting up its technology centre?

Our customers are spread across 220 countries and we already have centres in the US and Europe. As we think about our goals, we are going with the fall of the sun model and that is why we thought about Asia, and chose India, to expand our development capabilities. At UPS, we don't do pure IT development. We are looking for people who can actually work on engineering, logistics technologies, and advanced capabilities like automation, robotics, and generative AI. When you look at the talent we need, India is a natural fit.

Moreover, UPS has a strategic investment in India. We already have two airport gateways in Delhi and Bengaluru and the fresh investment also makes sense from a strategy perspective as India is also growing and trying to be a $10 trillion economy by 2030. So, this is a win-win partnership that we can actually create.

How much will UPS invest in India and in its technology centre?

UPS will invest $15-20 million in India and provide jobs for 1,000 people by 2025. The India Technology Centre already has 100 people working for it, of which 22 per cent are women and we will increase this to 30 per cent. We will have 350 people working for the centre by the end of 2023.

What will be the primary goal of this centre?

We look at many things like robotics, AI, and data sciences. We do robotics to see how systems get automated within a facility. All those functions will be part of what we do here. I look at India on the same plane as Europe and the US. What we do in Europe and in the US, we will do in India. And it will be done for global development across all regions.

Why is India a strategic partner?

We are involved with the Indian Government on the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), part of the National Logistics Policy (NLP). Recently, we also launched UPS Premium Healthcare service in India, which is a leading healthcare provider in the world. Through the launch of UPS premium in India, we believe we can ensure the timely delivery of critical healthcare products. We have also launched MOVIN Express for India’s domestic logistics market in partnership with Interglobe Enterprises.

Could you please elaborate on UPS’ collaboration with India on ULIP?

We have got access to ULIP and the partnership with India is at an early stage. Our goal is to get involved with the government in a very close manner because we have the expertise. We will see how we can actually add value not only from our area but also how we can help the government as they think about firming up. We plan to meet with officials of the Union Government in New Delhi during our current visit to really understand what are the areas of selective cooperation we can do so that we can truly add our expertise to the Indian ecosystem of logistics.

Do you have plans to increase the number of dedicated airport gateways in India?

The second dedicated airport gateway in Bengaluru helped us double our export and import handling capacity in India. A lot of things are required for establishing a gateway but there is no doubt that we will continue to look at India as a strategic focus, which means there will be additional gateways. That will be based on what the business needs and growth needs are. If it makes sense for us, we'll certainly do that.