The 43rd annual convention of Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI), scheduled from November 16-19 this year, will be held in Athens, Greece. The theme of the convention is ‘Resurgence of Air Logistics in India’. Explaining about the theme of the convention, Sunil Arora, Secretary General & Chairman Convention, ACAAI, says, “There is a vital need to rejuvenate, resurge and reassess to meet the challenges and be ahead in the race for global preeminence of the skies.”

Recently, the Government of India has constituted National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary with an objective to develop the pan-India road map for trade facilitation. It is a follow up of India’s ratification of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) in April 2016. The composition of the NCTF is inclusive at the national committee level which will comprise of Secretaries of all key departments involved in trade issues like revenue, commerce, agriculture, home, shipping, health etc. It will also have Chairman CBEC, Chairman Railway Board, and Director General Foreign Trade as Members. Major trade associations as members of NCTF include Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI), Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Associated Chambers of Commerce in India (ASSOCHAM), Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), etc and Joint Secretary, Customs, CBEC will be its Member Secretary. Commenting on the formation of NCTF Samir Shah, Chairman, FFFAI said, “It’s a very pragmatic step towards achieving the goal of WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. We are very happy that the government has taken FFFAI as its member to add the freight forwarding industry perspective. Our Federation would provide NCTF with all necessary inputs based on the feedback from the freight forwarding community in India to benefit the foreign trade and the country’s economy at large.”

The first Bangladeshi vehicle weighed down with imported consignment rolled into a customs depot in New Delhi. The truck operated by Expo Freight (EFL) was allowed to cross the border without requiring the trans-shipment of goods from one country’s trucks to another for the first time in the history of trade relations between India and Bangladesh. The truck, carrying cargo for EFL’s clients Marks & Spencer London, left EFL’s warehouse in Tongi, Bangladesh on August 27, 2016. After customs clearing at the Benapole-Petrapole border crossing, the truck crossed more than 1500 km before arriving at its destination in Alipur, Delhi. This achievement was made possible by the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement signed in July 2015 between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal, allowing for easier passage of cargo and passenger vehicles between the four countries.

“Currently in India we have achieved approx 50 per cent containerisation and eventually we need to reach the level of 70-80 per cent which the developed countries have already achieved. The size of multimodal logistics for EXIM cargo in India is approx four million TEUs, we have had 18 continuous months of drop in exports, however the ports volumes are marginally up by four per cent, which means that there is an increase in imports. Hence, the current growth rate is apex two per cent which is likely to increase in coming years,” says, Vivek Kele, President, AMTOI.  

In the 4th Annual General Meeting of Air Cargo Forum India (ACFI), the association members have elected ACFI’s governing board members for 2016-18. ACFI is committed to develop the air cargo industry by engaging itself proactively with government and other regulatory agencies for simplifying and streamlining procedures and enhancing the level of ease of doing business in India. Tushar K Jani, Chairman, Cargo Service Center is the President, Cyrus Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Company as Vice President, Yashpal Sharma, Director, Skyways Air Services as Hon. Secretary and Ramesh Mamidala, CEO, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India as Hon. Treasurer. Following are the members of the board: Neera Rawat, ED Cargo, Airports Authority of India (AAI) Abhay Pathak, ED Cargo, Air India (AI) Vipin Kumar Mohla, Director Cargo Sales & Operation, InterGlobe Aviation S. Subramanian, Sr Vice President & Managing Director, DHL Express Arun Kumar, Managing Director, Ensynergy Supply Chain Solution

The air cargo traffic reported healthy y-o-y growth of 9 per cent in June 2016 as against 7 per cent y-o-y growth in May 2016. Harsh Jagnani, Vice President, ICRA, explains, “Though June marks the onset of lean season for passenger movement, the movement in cargo is more aligned to the level of economic activity in the country rather than the season. Given some uptick in economic activities in the country over recent months, growth in cargo traffic has remained robust. Also, the growth has been noticed in most of the top 20 airports in the country again highlighting the uniformity.” International cargo traffic, which constitutes over 60 per cent of overall cargo traffic, reported better growth rate than domestic cargo traffic. International cargo reported y-o-y growth of 10 per cent as against 8 per cent for domestic cargo.

The esteemed ‘DDP Game Changer’ award went to Manoj Singh, Senior Vice President & Head – Cargo (Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd – MIAL).  Singh has an affluent experience in the aviation industry and also being responsible for overall cargo business operation and cargo project development of MIAL as per the master plan. He is associated with the airport for the last five years.

Saurabh Trikha, Director, Aargus Global Logistics, was awarded the esteemed ‘Face of the Future’ award. Trikha is graduate in Computer Sciences from Ohio State University, Ohio, USA and now pursuing MBA. He has contributed extensively to the growth of the company and since his joining; the group has seen almost 100 per cent growth in business.

Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, International Federation of Customs Brokers Association, was awarded with the prestigious ‘Gallery of Legends’ award. With his rich experience in the industry he held several positions in many national and international trade associations and chambers, be it,  Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture, China International Logistics Professional Network, FIATA Multimodal Transport Institute WG SEA, to name a few.. He is also the manufacturer of rotationally moulded products too.

The second edition of the India Cargo Awards – West & South commemorated the accomplishments of the cargo industry of West & South India at Novotel Pune Nagar Road, on August 3.  Ajay Kumar, Director, Pune International Airport, was the Chief Guest for this distinguished evening. The ceremony saw the august presence of Saudamini Naik, Gladrags Mrs India, and the leaders of the cargo industry. India Cargo Awards honoured the real runners of the industry. The 42 winners were chosen after a fair and unbiased selection process which includes an online voting platform.