Send a parcel from Bangalore to Kolkata. We pick up free.
Around 1,870 kilometres up the eastern coast through Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar — 4–5 working days on DTDC surface, 2–3 by air express. It is the longest of our metro lanes, so pack for the distance. Pickup anywhere in Bengaluru is free at 5 kg and above, from Marathahalli and Bellandur across to RT Nagar, Malleshwaram and Banashankari.
Pickup across Bengaluru, coastal line-haul up the east, delivery across the 700xxx belt.
Pickup, Bengaluru.
Inside 60–90 minutes across the central city. Marathahalli, Bellandur and the eastern tech belt take a two-hour window; RT Nagar, Hebbal and the northern side are quicker in the morning than the evening. Because this is a long lane, the rider spends a few extra minutes on the packing — corner protection and double taping are worth more here than on a short run.
Bengaluru sortation.
Handed into DTDC’s Bengaluru operation the same evening. Long-haul east is a scheduled trunk movement rather than an on-demand one, so booking earlier in the day genuinely matters on this route in a way it does not on a 350-kilometre hop.
Eastern line-haul.
The freight runs up the coastal corridor — Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar — before turning into DTDC’s Kolkata hub. Surface covers the full run in 4–5 working days. The air leg out of Kempegowda cuts the exposure substantially and brings it to 2–3, which is why anything fragile or date-bound tends to go express on this lane.
Kolkata delivery.
Last-mile off the Kolkata hub across the 700xxx series — north and south Kolkata, the Salt Lake sectors, New Town and the Behala side. Howrah sits across the river on its own pin family and is quoted separately, so give us the full pin rather than just the city name.
POD on WhatsApp.
The proof of delivery — signature image or stamped slip — comes back to you on WhatsApp within the hour of the parcel being handed over.
Starting rates, Bangalore → Kolkata.
Charged on actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater, plus the fuel surcharge current on your booking date. GST is added separately.
- Standard parcel (surface) from ₹120 / kg 4–5 working days. Min billable 5 kg.
- Express parcel (air) from ₹180 / kg 2–3 working days. Door delivery.
- Bulk consignment (35 kg+) from ₹120 / kg Min 35 kg. Surface routing.
Pickup is free across Bengaluru at 5 kg and above. Volumetric weight is (L × W × H cm) ÷ 5000, and it dominates on this lane because so much of what moves is clothing and gift cartons. The two-day gap between surface and express is the widest of any of our metro routes, and in the run-up to Durga Puja that gap widens further — book early rather than upgrading late.
Puja parcels, family shipments, Sector V hardware and onward freight for the east.
Durga Puja parcels home
The defining seasonal flow on this lane. From late August into September the volume climbs sharply as Bengaluru’s Bengali working population posts things back — new clothes for the family, gifts for parents and in-laws, sarees and kurtas bought here, things promised over a phone call in July. The whole point is that it arrives before the pandals open, and after a certain date it simply will not. Book by the first week of September on surface, and read the FAQ below before you leave it later than that.
Family shipments, year round
Outside the season it is the same senders at a lower rate — a monthly parcel to parents in Behala or Dum Dum, documents that need a signature at home, medicines a family member ran out of in their original prescription packaging, a phone or a pair of glasses posted back. Small, light, usually under 5 kg, and the one category on this lane where people ask about the minimum billable weight more than the rate.
Sarees and ethnic wear
Bengaluru’s silk and ethnic-wear shopping feeds Kolkata weddings and the Puja season alike. Sarees, dhakai-style weaves bought here, blouse pieces, dupattas, kurta sets. Fabric is the classic volumetric trap: a saree carton weighs almost nothing and measures like a small wardrobe. Fold flat, band the stack and let the rider measure before you seal, and you will often drop a whole weight slab.
IT hardware for the Salt Lake offices
Kolkata’s technology employers cluster in Salt Lake Sector V and New Town, and hardware moves between them and Bengaluru continuously — laptops and docking kits on transfer, test devices, network equipment, asset returns after a resignation. Salt Lake and New Town are wide, well-signposted campuses and delivery there is straightforward; it is the packing that matters, because this is a four-to-five day road journey and equipment needs foam on every face, not just the top.
Books and study material
Students moving between the two cities, plus the steady trade in academic books that Kolkata is genuinely still a centre for. Reference sets, competitive-exam material, printed notes, thesis copies and bound submissions. Books are dense and cheap to ship by weight, so this is one of the few categories on this lane where surface at ₹120/kg is unarguably the right answer.
Onward parcels for the east and Northeast
A distinct pattern worth naming. Bengaluru has a large Northeast and north Bengal workforce, and a lot of them ship to a relative in Kolkata who then carries the parcel onward to Siliguri, Guwahati or further. It works, but think about it before you book — see the last FAQ, because sending to the final address directly is sometimes cheaper and almost always faster.
A short, real list.
Prohibited by DTDC and across the network. The second block is specific to what people try to send east from Bengaluru, which is a different set of mistakes from any other lane we run:
Banned outright
- Liquids, syrups and anything that can seep
- Aerosols and pressurised containers
- Explosives, fireworks and pyrotechnics
- Alcohol, wine and spirits
- Currency, bullion and precious stones
- Perishables and anything needing refrigeration
Common Bengaluru → Kolkata misjudgements
- Sweets in syrup — rosogolla tins, mishti doi, gulab jamun — the single most attempted and most refused item on this route, in both directions. Syrup is a liquid, tins fail under four days of road vibration, and curd-based sweets are perishable on top of that. Dry sweets, sealed savouries and vacuum-packed mishti are a different matter and travel fine.
- Mustard oil and pickle packed in oil — very specific to this lane, and sent with the best of intentions. It is a liquid whatever the seal, and on a four-to-five day journey a leak does not stay inside your carton.
- Fireworks and sparklers around Kali Puja and Diwali — attempted every single year. Explosives cannot travel on any courier network under any circumstances, ground or air, and this is not a rule we can be persuaded around.
- Clay idols, pandal decorations and plaster figures — we will not stop you, but you should know what you are buying. Unfired clay does not survive 1,870 kilometres of road, it falls outside any fragile cover, and there is no realistic claim if it arrives in pieces. If it must go, send it express and let us double-box it in cut foam.
- Alcohol as a Puja or wedding gift — refused at booking, and separately an interstate offence to move without a permit. The gift box ships; the bottle does not.
AWB on WhatsApp. Track on dtdc.in. POD when it lands.
Your AWB number arrives on WhatsApp the moment the parcel is booked into DTDC, and you can follow it at dtdc.in for the whole of the run east. POD comes back within the hour of delivery. Two Kolkata realities are worth knowing up front. Goods-vehicle movement through the congested central and north Kolkata lanes is restricted during peak business hours, so deliveries in the older neighbourhoods run in set windows rather than whenever the parcel is ready — allow a little slack there and none at all in Salt Lake or New Town, which are straightforward. And put the recipient’s mobile on the AWB. In the older buildings there is often no lift and no reception desk, and a rider on a fourth-floor landing with no number to call marks the parcel undelivered and takes it back to the hub.
Specific to Bangalore → Kolkata.
When should I book so a Durga Puja parcel actually arrives in time?
Work backwards from the first day of the pujas and give yourself real margin. On surface the lane is 4–5 working days in normal conditions, but September is not normal conditions — the whole network into eastern India is carrying its heaviest volume of the year, and the last mile inside Kolkata slows badly once the pandals go up and roads across the city start closing to traffic. Our honest guidance: book surface by the first week of September, or roughly two clear weeks before Shashthi. If you are later than that, pay for express and accept 2–3 working days rather than gambling on the road leg. And if you are inside the Puja week itself, understand that deliveries in the city effectively pause during the closures — the parcel is safe, but it will sit at the hub until the roads reopen.
Can I send sweets from Bangalore to Kolkata?
Dry ones, yes — and they travel better than people expect. Mysore pak, dry halwa, sealed murukku and mixture, packaged badam and kaju sweets, anything vacuum packed or factory sealed with a shelf life printed on it, all fine on a 4–5 day surface run. What cannot go is anything in syrup or with moisture in it: rosogolla tins, mishti doi, fresh sandesh, gulab jamun, and homemade sweets in a steel dabba. Syrup counts as a liquid, tins leak under road vibration, and curd-based items are perishable. Buy factory-sealed if you want the parcel to arrive as food rather than as a cleaning problem, and tell us it is food at booking so we line the carton and keep it away from anything heavy.
My relative in Kolkata will carry it onward to Assam. Should I book to Kolkata or all the way?
Usually all the way, and this catches a lot of people out. Sending to a Kolkata relative feels cheaper because it is a shorter lane, but you are paying for a Bengaluru–Kolkata booking, then relying on someone to physically carry a heavy parcel onward on a train or a flight with its own baggage limits. Booking straight through to Guwahati, Siliguri, Agartala or wherever the parcel is really going is a single AWB, a single tracked movement and a POD at the actual destination, and the price difference is smaller than the two-hop version once you account for the second leg. There is one case where the relay makes sense: when the final address is somewhere the network reaches slowly and your relative is travelling that way anyway within a day or two. Tell us the real destination on the phone and we will price both and tell you which is genuinely better.
Tell us the rough weight. We’ll come back in minutes.
Sending your request…
Hang on, this takes a couple of seconds.
Thanks! We’ll call you shortly.
Your booking request has been received. For urgent support, reach us directly:
Couldn’t send your request
Please try again, or reach us directly — we’re here 24×7:
A real person at your Bengaluru door, in about an hour.
WhatsApp the pickup address and a rough weight, or call and talk it through. The Bengaluru desk runs 24×7, and on a long lane like this one an early booking is worth more than a fast service — get it collected today and it is on tonight’s trunk.