Mahindra Logistics Ltd. (MLL), one of India's leading third-party logistics (3PL) solutions providers, recently signed an MoU with 1Bridge, a Bengaluru-based social enterprise and one of India’s largest village commerce networks, to work together on last-mile delivery & distribution of products in rural India.

While Mahindra Logistics specialises in supply chain management and serves customers across various industries including consumer goods and e-commerce across India, 1Bridge is a bridge that connects the supply side of the value chain, i.e., industry stakeholders within the consumer goods, e-commerce, fintech, etc. to the demand side of the chain – i.e., the rural consumer at the village level through its village entrepreneurs and a technology platform.

Signing this significant partnership with 1Bridge, Rampraveen Swaminathan, MD & CEO, Mahindra Logistics, said, “This collaboration will complement MLL’s logistical expertise, pan-India network and a wide customer base with 1Bridge’s deep presence across villages in rural India through its network of local business associates and district-level stations. We look forward to working collaboratively towards a strengthened supply chain network in rural India.”

Madan Padaki, CEO, 1Bridge, said “We are delighted to partner with a leader like Mahindra Logistics, as this will enable a start-up like us to learn faster and deliver better consumer experience to the village consumers.”

So far, 1Bridge has its operations spread across 6000+ villages across 65 districts in 6 states in India, viz. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Through its strong village network of 6,000+ local entrepreneurs, known as 1Bridge Advisors, who advise and execute various transactions like product origination, digital services and local deliveries to their local communities - 1Bridge has enabled 25M+ deliveries to the doorsteps of local consumers and over 5M+ digital transactions. This model has also substantially facilitated rural employment & income generation resulting in substantial earnings for these local entrepreneurs.

To begin this partnership, MahindraLogistics and 1Bridge have begun pilot projects in Karnataka, Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu on deliveries of consumer/home appliances and groceries. Over the next 3 years, the partners intend to build an efficient last-mile delivery capability covering over 100,000 villages in India.