Ricoh Wins Contract to Modernize 129,000 Post Offices in India

A Ricoh Co. subsidiary has won an order from the Indian government for a project to modernize 129,000 post offices throughout the country with information and communication technologies (ICT), Ricoh said Nov. 26.

New Delhi-based Ricoh India Ltd. was chosen by the Department of Posts for the “Rural ICT-Hardware” project along with local consulting company Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd.

Under the project, worth 13.7 billion rupees (about 26 billion yen, or $220 million), Ricoh will supply handheld terminals to implement mail and financial businesses, terminals to process personal identification number (PIN) codes, bar-code readers, solar batteries and other products.

Ricoh will also teach post office employees how to use the technology and offer maintenance services for a five-year period, the Tokyo-based parent company said.

The Department of Posts, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications and IT, aims to offer higher-quality mail, financial and remittance services to residents, especially in rural areas.

At present, post office employees manually conduct their jobs in many parts of the country.