Ashish Asaf, MD-CEO, SA Consultants & Forwarders, hopes that this budget will focus on long-pending issues and new avenues like; 100 per cent EDI and absolute e-Transactions. “More Air Freight Stations are likely to be opened and desires are up for the refined policy and to introduce new independent facility wherein CFS would be allowed to have AFS Facilities,” he says. “To decongest the airports, it is desirable to promote customised cargo hubs and cargo parks near the major metro airports where the concerned cargo activities can be effectively carried out within its periphery. Single window clearance and centralised system are on list to simplify the process and to reduce the dwell time. The government needs to come up with a clear incentive plan for small players to fund logistics as a specialised industry,” Asaf continues. This budget is expected to bring out rebates and relaxation on taxes to give momentum to ‘Make in India’ scheme. However, the persisting high logistic costs could only be resolved by development of logistics infrastructure though we expect government to perceive the sector holistically and focus on bringing the logistics cost at the comparative level.

The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) has presented their recommendations to the Central Board of Excise & Customs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India to consider in the Finance Bill 2017-18. Memorandum which was submitted by Amit Kamat, Honorary Secretary, FFFAI included the recommendations that they received from 27 member associations across the country. Major points included in the recommendations are: Sections 15 (1), 28, 30 (3), 54, 60, 68, 69, 74, 111 (D), 110 (2), 149, 154 and SEZ/FTWZ Highlights of the recommendations are: • The Concept of linkage between of Section 15 and Section 31 should be done way with to facilitate faster clearance and promote the process of Advance Noting 30 days prior to arrival of a vessel • In the case of Section 28, where government authority gets two years whereas exporters/importers get only one year to resolve disputes and to claim refunds, it is recommended that the time frame should be the same for both • Minor amendment should be allowed electronically by a CHA/Importeras per the requirement of Section 30 (3) and satisfaction of a proper officer • Filing of transshipment permit(as per Section 54) should be allowed electronically • When the provisions of Section 59 have been complied in any respect of any goods, the proper officer may make an order permitting the deposit of goods in a warehouse. In this case jurisdictional authorities of the warehouse should be able to feed the data of warehousing • Third country should be allowed for warehousing of goods, for facilitate exporting of imported goods • In the provision of Section 69, third country should be allowed for warehousing of goods, for facilitate …

DTDC Express along with its strategic partner DPD Group has further strengthened its presence globally by launching its operations in Bangladesh in collaboration with Galaxy Express. With this collaboration, DTDC will introduce international standards of delivery service in the region. Subhasish Chakraborty, DTDC said, “Over the years, we’ve invested significantly to bolster our network and services in around the globe. Our collaboration with Galaxy Express is the most recent in a series of global network addition, and a strategic step to expand our presence in Indian subcontinent.”

ACFI launches its chapter in Ahmedabad, Gujarat under the Chairmanship of Tushar K Jani, President, ACFI in the presence of other board members, associations, and air cargo logistics trade members from Ahmedabad. Samir Mankad, Ex. Director, GSEC, Ahmedabad was elected unanimously as the Chairman of ACFI Ahmedabad Chapter. Mankad requested the support and cooperation of all the members of air cargo logistics trade of Ahmedabad to achieve their aspirations and taking ACFI Ahmedabad, Gujarat to new growth.

The 23 Biennial Convention of the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), which is being held from January 19 to 21, 2017, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cochin in Kerala, is eto witness more than 400 delegates from across the country. For facilitating early registrations FFFAI announced ‘Super Early Bird’ and ‘Early Bird’ Registration schemes to benefit the delegates. While ‘Super Early Bird’ registration was closed on November 30, 2016, ‘Early Bird’ registration will be closed on December 31 and the convention registration will be closed on January 15, 2017. Online registration and registration forms are available at FFFAI website www.fffai.org. With the theme ‘Indian Customs Broker-Trusted Single Entity Logistician-Capable and Dynamic’, the convention will discuss several pressing issues. The topics include GST – What to Accept and How to Adapt, Future of Logistics Services – Survival in Digital and Liberalised Era – Adapting to Digital and Cashless, Ladies Session – Assuring Gender Equalisation in Logistics the Way Forward, The Future of Customs Clearance in India, Freight Forwarding and Customs Brokerage Worldwide, Technology and Skilling – Innovations Required for Survival and Family Business – Induction, Continuation & Corportisation. There will be a specific focus on international market trends, economic developments in India and fast changing policies & compliances,” informs Amit Kamat, Honorary Secretary, FFFAI.

Kale Logistics Solutions and Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) have signed a MoU, whereby Kale’s eVGM platform will be made available to its members for eVGM filing. The e-VGM Platform from Kale allows exporter, CHA/CB, CFS/ICD, shipping lines/liner agent record, declare and transmit the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) electronically. It is not just compliant with industry regulations but has many added features like; a dedicated secure DG Shipping approved website, digital signature enabled, EDI connectivity to shipping lines, weighbridge software integration for tamper proof transmission of container weight, automated alerts, dashboard view and mobile application. Kale’s eVGM platform will be accessible to FFFAI members through FFFAI website for filing eVGM to shipping lines.

DHL Express has expanded its Gujarat operations with the launch of a new service centre in Vadodara. The 8,500 sq ft facility caters to Vadodara city and the surrounding areas of Savli, Halol, Waghodia, Por and Padra covering a radius of approximately 45 km. RS Subramanian, Senior Vice President & Country Manager, DHL Express India, said, “For DHL, the state of Gujarat represents a huge growth opportunity. Our continuing investments in Ahmedabad, the recent facility in Surat and now this new service facility at Vadodara – are testimonies to its potential. Vadodara is also strategically located to take advantage of the developing golden quadrilateral highway network that will connect Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.”

Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has launched a dedicated cargo terminal for bonded and heavy export cargo at city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) which is one of the busiest airports in Asia. With this, CSIA’s cargo handling capacity will increase to seven lakh tonne annually from around four lakh tonne at present. The heavy cargo includes machinery, non-perishable pharma, automobile, engineering products, etc. The terminal will start operations from December 14, 2016. According to MIAL, the new process management deployed, along with incremental export capacity, will reduce the dwell time to a considerable extent. “The new facility will complement the existing Export Zone by increasing efficiency through faster admittance of cargo, swift turnaround of vehicles and overall reduction in handling dwell time with new process management. With this additional facility, CSIA can now offload more than 50 trucks at a time,” said an airport insider. Earlier, the average offloading capacity was about 30 trucks.

Lifted by solid growth in cargo traffic, Cathay Pacific Airways plans to increase frequency of its freighter services to Indian cities. The Hong Kong based airline has freight services to six Indian cities and there are 25 freighter departures every week from India. A sign of significant market potential in the freighter segment, the carrier has seen an eight per cent jump in cargo volumes in first nine months (January-September) of this year. “At this moment, we plan to optimise our network base in India and want to increase our frequency here,” Mark Sutch, General Manager – Cargo Sales & Marketing, Cathay Pacific. The carrier provides freighter services from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The twice-a-week service between Kolkata and Hong Kong was launched in March last year.

DHL eCommerce is investing EUR70 million (Rs 51,184 lakh) to strengthen its operations to meet the fast-growing demand for quality e-commerce logistics services in India. Through its subsidiary Blue Dart Express, this investment will go into the expansion of its air hubs in Delhi and Mumbai which are part of its network of 13 air hubs in India. The latest investment supports the growth of B2C e-commerce in India, and is part of the company’s broader plan to aggressively expand across Asia Pacific. “The expanded facilities in Delhi and Mumbai, coupled with our flexible and easy-to-use e-fulfillment solutions, will enable e-commerce sellers to distribute their products to over 34,000 domestic locations effectively. As the national leader in door-to-door delivery in India, our deliveries are fully managed end-to-end, including routing, sorting and shipping goods efficiently from the warehouse to customers’ doorstep, to provide customers with consistent service excellence. Our EUR70 million investment will ensure that we continue to lay a strong foundation to offer even greater support to our e-commerce customers,” said Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart Express.