June 20 (Reuters) - Indian courier delivery firm

Delhivery launched its short-haul parcel transport

service in two locations on Friday, ramping up competition in a

market dominated by the likes of Uber ( UBER ) and Kedaara

Capital-backed Porter.

Near-distance parcel delivery - often within city limits -

has grown increasingly popular, following the success of

quick-commerce delivery services, where everything from milk to

mobile phones is delivered within 10 minutes.

Currently, Uber ( UBER ), Swiggy-backed ride-hailing app

Rapido and Porter are among firms that ferry parcels from one

area of a city to another.

Delhivery's service is currently live only in the national

capital region and the southern IT hub of Bengaluru, but the

company aims to rapidly expand to other key metro cities, MD and

CEO Sahil Barua said in a statement.

Third-party logistics firms, including Delhivery, have been

looking for options to diversify as their mainstay long-haul

freight businesses battle intense competition from in-house

logistics arms of e-commerce giants such as Amazon ( AMZN ) and

Walmart ( WMT )-backed Flipkart.