The research highlights that delays in duty payments, regular modifications to shipping and entry documents, and ineffective query resolution are significant factors leading to increased clearance times
- Economic Competitiveness: Faster clearance reduces transaction costs for exporters and importers, making Indian goods cheaper and more attractive in the global market. It also lowers inventory holding costs, especially benefiting MSMEs.
- Ease of Doing Business: Seamless logistics is a primary determinant for foreign direct investment (FDI), as global companies rely on predictable and fast supply chains.
- Integration into Global Value Chains (GVCs): Modern GVCs operate on a “just-in-time” manufacturing model, which is impossible to sustain without rapid and reliable customs and logistics processes.
- National Strategic Goals: Efficient trade is crucial for achieving the goals of ‘Make in India’ and improving India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI).
- Turant Customs: A flagship programme aimed at creating a Faceless, Paperless, and Contactless customs environment through technology.
- Single Window Interface for Facilitating Trade (SWIFT): This system integrates customs with other Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) like FSSAI, Drug Controller, etc., to provide a single point of submission for clearance documents.
- Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) Programme: A ‘trusted trader’ programme that offers preferential and faster clearance to accredited businesses.
- PM Gati Shakti & National Logistics Policy (NLP): These overarching policies aim to break departmental silos and create integrated infrastructure, from ports and highways to railways and digital systems like the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP).
- Fragmented Inter-Agency Coordination: While SWIFT provides a single digital window, the backend coordination among Customs, port authorities, and PGAs remains weak. Delays in obtaining approvals or testing samples from different agencies create a cumulative bottleneck, defeating the purpose of a single window.
- Digital Infrastructure and Adoption Issues: The digital systems, while robust at the central level, face challenges at the last mile. Frequent server downtimes, glitches in the ICEGATE portal, and a lack of uniform digital literacy among all stakeholders, including customs brokers and officials in smaller ports, disrupt the flow of faceless assessment.
- Human Resource and Mindset Challenges: The transition from a ‘control and scrutiny’ mindset to one of ‘facilitation and trust’ is incomplete. There is a need for continuous capacity building for officials to handle complex, modern cargo and effectively use risk management systems (RMS) instead of resorting to high rates of physical examination.
- Physical Infrastructure Bottlenecks: Digital speed is often nullified by physical delays. Congestion at port gates, inadequate yard management, and a shortage of specialised infrastructure like cold storage and accredited testing laboratories near trade hubs lead to significant dwell times.
- Regulatory Ambiguity: Certain rules and regulations remain complex and open to subjective interpretation by ground-level officers, leading to disputes, delays, and a lack of predictability for traders.
- Deepen Institutional Integration: Move beyond a single window to a ‘whole-of-government’ approach. Empower inter-agency committees at major ports with the authority to resolve operational issues in real-time. The ULIP under NLP must be fully operationalised to ensure seamless data flow and collaborative decision-making.
- Strengthen the Digital Backbone: Invest in upgrading IT infrastructure to ensure 99.9% uptime. Leverage advanced technologies like AI and blockchain for more sophisticated risk assessment, which can further reduce the need for physical inspections and enhance supply chain security.
- Invest in Capacity Building: Implement a structured and continuous training programme for officials of all participating agencies focused on trade facilitation, risk management, and customer-service orientation.
- Targeted Infrastructure Development: Use the PM Gati-Shakti master plan to identify and address last-mile infrastructure gaps, such as creating dedicated freight corridors to ports, expanding container yards, and establishing state-of-the-art testing facilities.
- Establish a Formal Feedback Loop: Create a permanent, institutionalised mechanism for regular consultations with stakeholders (importers, exporters, logistics providers) to identify and rectify ground-level procedural hurdles swiftly.
