Delay in completion of road connectivity projects: Chennai Port Chairman takes it up with Chief Secretary

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/delay-in-completion-of-road-connectivity-projects/

With the actual beneficiaries of port connectivity projects – exporters, importers, trade bodies and Chambers of Commerce – still dilly-dallying over taking up the inordinate delay in completion of such projects with the Tamil Nadu State Government authorities, Chennai Port Trust, another equally important partner in the EXIM trade, has wrote a detailed letter to the State Chief Secretary, Ms. Sheela Balakrishnan, to speed up them.

According to EXIM experts, it was a welcome move from the Chennai Port management to draw the State Government’s attention on the undue delays in completion of port connectivity projects.
Moreover, a letter requesting for intervention from port management to the State Government’s top authority carries more weightage than the normal one.
In a detailed letter on Ennore Manali Road Improvement Project (EMRIP) to State Chief Secretary, Mr. Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, recalled the importance of the project and mentioned about the work that is yet to be taken up or completed by the State Government agencies.
EMRIP is being implemented by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for upgrading connectivity to Chennai and Ennore Ports to the National Highway Network. 
This project, in addition to benefitting Chennai Port, would also relieve traffic congestion in North Chennai.

During the course of inspection of the project roads with NHAI, Revenue, TNRDC, CMWSSB, TNEB and other concerned State Government officials in August this year, several hindrances to early completion of the project were noticed and put forward for solution.
In his letter, Mr. Misra said: “In this connection, I wish to bring to your kind notice that this project was scheduled to be completed by June 2013 but due to the hindrances (noticed during inspection), the project is now rescheduled for completion by the end of this year.”

“Further, it is submitted that Chennai Port, which is one of the premier container ports on the East Coast, is experiencing a drop in container volumes since the last financial year, mainly due to the prevailing congestion and inadequate roads linking the port to the hinterland. The stakeholders and port users have been expressing concern in this regard and they apprehend that this declining trend in cargo traffic may continue unless urgent action is taken to improve the road connectivity,” he pointed out in the letter.
The Chairman also observed in the letter that due to the delay in completion of EMRIP, the exporters hitherto using Chennai Port have already begun moving their cargo through private ports in the neighbouring states.

“The early completion of EMRIP is vital to the future of container handling in Chennai Port,” Mr. Misra appealed to the Tamil Nadu Government in the letter.

According to sources, the beginning of direct letter correspondence with the State Government would pave way for the Chennai Port management to prevail upon the former on the importance of Chennai Port-Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway, the other important port connectivity project that hangs in balance after the State Government’s intervention.

It may be noted here that the elevated expressway project is stuck for the past 18 months due to lack of communication between the State Government and the port management.
Besides, none of the Chambers of Commerce in the State – whose members are exporters, importers and Custom House Agents – ever raised the issue of undue delay in completion of such important port connectivity project with State Government.

Moreover, at a recent meeting in Chennai, Mr. M. Rafeeque Ahmed, President of Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) and Chairman of Farida Group, openly blamed the Chambers of Commerce for failing to take up the project with State Government.

Govt indifference cause for Indian shipping industry plight

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/govt-indifference-cause-for-indian-shipping-industry-plight/

When global game plan in promoting shipping industry is by attracting investment through tax breaks and sops, India looks the other way and beats itself out of the game by levying around 12 different types of investor-unfriendly taxes on the industry including income, service and MAT that not only scuttle the entrepreneurs interest in the country, but drastically reduce the Indian tonnage, voiced the speakers in unison at the India Shipping Summit 2013 held in Mumbai from Oct. 21 to 23.

Regressive taxation, bureaucratic indifference and governance apathy combined together have reduced the Indian tonnage share from 4.18% in 1960 to 0.79% (roughly 1, 800 ships at now) in world fleet when the global fleet growth on the other hand had zoomed from 36, 000 ships to 1, 25, 000 ships during the same period, they said.

The 12 different types of tax levy including service tax and MAT imposed by the Indian Government hounds the Indian shipping entrepreneurs out to foreign tax havens that pamper them with plethora of concessions. The Shipping Ministry should sit up and take notice as to how the Indian companies are quite successful in countries like Singapore and Cyprus, they rued.

Regressive and repressive tax regime in India has hustled out companies to the aforesaid countries and little surprising that those companies had cosily crossed their corporate growth milestones, besides surpassing their parent entities in India, they exclaimed in despair.

One is tempted to ask how the subsidiary of India’s 3rd largest shipping company, Mercator lines Singapore entity has grown bigger than its Indian parent? Why Tata in partnership with NYK is running its shipping business in Singapore and not operating in India? And why many of the Indian shipping entrepreneurs who had moved abroad are remarkably successful in business than those shipping lines that are incorporated in India? And whether maritime bureaucracy is aware of the flight of flags and the dwindling of tonnage? These are the pathetic questions posed by none other than Mr. Anil Devli, former CEO of INSA.

Shipping entrepreneurs who fled the country to investor-friendly nations unanimously concur that there is lack of strategic vision by the Government in growing the Indian maritime sector, he lamented.

Indian bureaucracy shackles day-to-day economic activity and it is the only bureaucratic machinery in the whole world that has no accountability with constitutional immunity, opined Mr. Ravi Mehrotra, CBE, Executive Chairman, Foresight Group, who has based his business in London and was proud to state that he has not visited any Government office there for approvals and clearances in his shipping business career spanning over 30 years. “Had I started the same company in India, I certainly wouldn’t have reached my present level of growth”, he openly declared.

When world shipping fleet flaunts a staggering 96, 000 vessels, India struggles to stumble past the 2, 000 numbers. Indian industry is still stuck in the state of infancy in both foreign-going and near-coastal trade tonnage. Unless the bureaucratic and political dispensation reform itself and set right the skewed taxations, the country won’t achieve the level playing field with maritime hubs like Singapore, China and Korea, he remarked.

Nurturing the ambition of developing itself as the future maritime hub of the region, India can’t afford to be insensitive to entrepreneur exodus to tax-friendly and flag-flexible destinations like Cyprus, Panama and Singapore, deplored Mr. Nigel Bell, Managing Director, Bell Shipping Ltd. “My first experience in dealing with the Government here took 11 months to get an import licence when it was applied in 1982”, he informed the gathering.

Business-friendly bureaucratic set-up and investment-promoting tax policies should be adopted to increase the India tonnage, he asserted and added that without Indian tonnage growth the dream of maritime hub would never come true. Foster the idea of holistic maritime hub like Singapore and Denmark that have the entire eco-system of lawyers, brokers, P/I club, managers and charterers existing together in the hub eco-system, said Mr. Peter Hinchliffee, OBE, Secretary General, International Chamber of Shipping and International Shipping Federation. Government policies should be in the long term interests of shipping as the commercial contracts entered into are for long-term, he pointed out.

India has an ad hoc ‘band aid’ approach in dealing with the festering issues of the industry, observed Dr. Anil Sharma, Founder-President, and CEO, GMS. “Most of the time our initiatives stop with conferencing and think-tank deliberations and its time that we move to the ‘do-tank’ phase” of it, he stated.

Single handedly countering the bashing of bureaucracy and governance by the industry, Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust, advised that the industry should stop its whining, crying and cribbing tone and make concerted attempts to be heard at the decision-making corridors. He underscored that India’s federal system of governance and vote bank democracy also have their roles in the present state of affairs.

ராஜபக்சாவுக்கு கிரீடம் சூட்டும் முயற்சிக்கு வைத்துள்ள ஆப்பு தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவைத் தீர்மானம்: நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி

Source:Naam Tamilar Party statement:

இலங்கையில் தமிழர்கள் சுதந்திரமாகவும், சிங்களவர்களுக்கு இணையாக சம உரிமை பெறும் வரை இலங்கையை காமன்வெல்த் அமைப்பில் இருந்து நீக்கி வைக்க வேண்டும் என்றும், அந்நாட்டுத் தலைநகர் கொழும்பில் நடைபெறவுள்ள காமன்வெல்த் தலைவர்கள் மாநாட்டில் இந்திய பிரதமரோ அல்லது இந்திய அரசுக் குழுவோ கலந்துகொள்ளக் கூடாது என்றும் தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவையில் அனைத்துக் கட்சிகளும் ஒருமனதாக நிறைவேற்றியுள்ள தீர்மானத்தை நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி வரவேற்கிறது.

தமிழ்நாட்டு மக்கள் மட்டுமின்றி, உலகத் தமிழர்கள், மனித உரிமையாளர்கள், அமைப்புகள், கனடா போன்ற ஜனநாயக நாடுகளின் உணர்வுகளை பிரதிபலிக்கும் வகையில் இத்தீர்மானத்தை முன்மொழிந்த தமிழக முதலமைச்சரை நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி பாராட்டுகிறது.

காமன்வெல்த் அமைப்பானது சர்வதேச அரசியலில் எந்த வித முக்கியத்துவமும் இல்லாத ஒரு அமைப்புதான் என்றாலும், அதனை கொழும்புவில் நடத்த அனுமதிப்பதும், காமன்வெல்த் உறுப்பு நாடுகளின் தலைவர்கள் மாநாட்டிற்கு இலங்கை அதிபர் ராஜபக்சாவை தலைமையேற்க அனுமதிப்பதும் காமன்வெல்த் அமைப்பின் அடிப்படை கொள்கைகளுக்கு முரணானதாகும்.

காமன்வெல்த் அமைப்பில் உறுப்பினராக இருக்கும் நாடுகளில் முழுமையான ஜனநாயகம் இருக்க வேண்டும், கருத்துச் சுதந்திரமும், நீதிமன்றங்கள் சுதந்தரமும் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்பதும், ஐ.நா.வால் நிறைவேற்றப்பட்ட மனித உரிமை பிரகடனங்கள் அனைத்தும் முழுமையாக கடைபிடிக்கப்பட வேண்டும் என்பதே அந்த அடிப்படைக் கொள்கைகள் ஆகும். ஆனால், உலகிற்கே தெரியும், மேற்கண்ட கொள்கைகள் எதுவும் இலங்கையில் கடைபிடிக்கப்படுவதில்லை என்பது. இலங்கை அரசால் அந்நாட்டின் பூர்வீகக் குடிகளான தமிழர்கள் திட்டமிட்ட இன அழித்தலுக்கு ஆளாக்கப்பட்டார்கள், இரு நாடுகளுக்கும் இடையிலான போரிலை கூட பயன்படுத்தக் கூடாது என்று அறிவிக்கப்பட்ட இராசயன குண்டுகள், கொத்துக் குண்டுகள் ஆகிய தமிழர்கள் மீது வீசப்பட்டு பல்லாயிரக்கணக்கான தமிழ் மக்கள் கொல்லப்பட்டனர். தமிழ்ப் பெண்கள் கற்பழிக்கப்பட்டனர், சிறுவர்களும், குழந்தைகளும் கூட இரக்கமின்றி படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டனர்.

90 ஆயிரம் தமிழப் பெண்கள் விதையாகி நிற்கின்றனர். 15 ஆயிரத்திற்கும் மேற்பட்டவர்கள் கொழும்பு நகரில் வெள்ளை வேன்களில் இராணுவத்தினரால் கடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளனர். அவர்களின் கதி என்ன ஆனது என்று இன்று வரை தெரியவில்லை. இப்படிப்பட்ட குற்றச்செயல்களை செய்த நாடு காமன்வெல்த் போன்ற ஒரு ஜனநாயக அமைப்பின் மாநாட்டை நடத்த தகுதி பெற்றதுதானா?  

ராஜபக்ச பதவி ஏற்ற 2006ஆம் ஆண்டிலிருந்து இதுவரை தமிழ், சிங்கள பத்திரிகையாளர்கள் 16 பேர் கொல்லப்பட்டுள்ளனர். தமிழினப் படுகொலைக்கு பயன்படுத்தப்பட்ட இரசாயண ஆயுதங்கள் பற்றி ஆராயச் சென்ற பிரகீத் எக்னெலிகோடா என்கிற சிங்கள பத்திரிகையாளர் உட்பட பலர் கடத்தப்பட்டு காணடிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். ராஜபக்ச அரசின் கொடுங்கோல் ஆட்சிக்கு பயந்து 38 இலங்கை பத்திரிகையாளர்கள் அயல் நாடுகளில் தஞ்சமடைந்துள்ளனர். அந்நாட்டு தலைமை நீதிபதி ராஜபக்சாவால் பதவி நீக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளார். இப்படி எல்லா வகையிலும் ஒரு சர்வாதிகார, காட்டாட்சி நடத்திவரும் ராஜபக்சாவை காமன்வெல்த் தலைவர்களின் மாநாட்டுத் தலைமை பதவியில் அமர்த்துவதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள முடியுமா?

 

ஆனால் இந்திய மத்திய காங்கிரஸ் அரசு மட்டும் ராஜபக்ச அரசுக்கு தீவிரமாக முட்டுக்கொடுத்துக்கொண்டு நிற்கிறது. காரணம், ராஜபக்ச அரசின் முப்படைகளும் நடத்திய தமிழின அழிப்பிற்கு துணை நின்றது இந்திய மத்திய காங்கிரஸ் அரசு. தன்னாட்டு மக்கள் மீது பயங்கர ஆயுதங்களை பயன்படுத்தி, அழித்தொழித்த ராஜபக்சவை போர்க் குற்றவாளி என்கிறது உலகம். ஆனால் அவருக்கு ஜனநாயக மகுடம் சூட்ட பார்க்கிறது இந்தியா!

ஒன்றே முக்கால் இலட்சம் தமிழர்கள் அழித்தொழிக்கப்பட்ட போருக்கு ஆதரவு வழங்கி துணை நின்ற இந்திய மத்திய காங்கிரஸ் அரசு, அந்தக் குற்றச் செயல்களில் இருந்து காபாற்ற ராஜபக்சாவுக்கு ஜனநாயக கிரீடம் சூட்ட முயற்சிக்கிறது. அதே நேரத்தில் தமிழர்களுக்கு அதிகார பரவல் பெற்றுத் தர முயற்சிப்பதாகவும் நாடகம் ஆடுகிறது. தமிழின அழித்தலுக்கு துணை போனது மட்டுமின்றி, சர்வதேச அளவில் ராஜபக்ச அரசுக்கு எதிராக வந்த எதிர்ப்பை முனை மழுங்கடித்த இந்திய மத்திய காங்கிரஸ் அரசு, தமிழர்களின் மறுவாழ்விற்கு பல்லாயிரம் கோடி உதவுவதாகவும் பரப்புரை செய்து வருகிறது.

இந்திய மத்திய காங்கிரஸ் அரசின் இந்த இரட்டை நிலைக்கு தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவை நிறைவேற்றிய தீர்மானம் ஆப்பு வைத்துள்ளது. தமிழர்களுக்கு எதிராக இழைக்கபட்ட அநீதியை உண்மையிலேயே எதிர்ப்பதாக இருந்தால், கொழும்பு மாநாட்டில் இந்திய பிரதமர் கலந்துகொள்ளக் கூடாது என்றும், இந்திய அரசு சார்பாக எந்த ஒரு குழுவு்ம் அந்த மாநாட்டில் கலந்துகொள்ளக் கூடாது என்று தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவைத் தீர்மானம் சொல்கிறது. தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவையில் நிறைவேற்றப்பட்ட தீர்மானத்தை உதாசீனப்படுத்திவிட்டு, பிரதமரோ அல்லது இந்திய அரசுக் குழுவோ அல்லது அயலுறவு அமைச்சரோ கொழும்பு காமன்வெல்த் மாநாட்டில் கலந்துகொள்ளவார்களேயானால் அது, அவர்களின் இரட்டை முகத்திரையை தாங்களே அம்பலப்படுத்திக்கொள்வதாக அமையும். எனவே தமிழக சட்டப் பேரவைத் தீர்மானம் வரவேற்பிற்குரியதே.

 

கொழும்பு மாநாட்டில் கலந்துகொள்வதில்லை என்று கனடா பிரதமர் முடிவெடுத்த அறித்ததுபோல், இங்கிலாந்து உள்ளிட்ட மற்ற காமன்வெல்த் உறுப்பு நாடுகளின் தலைவர்களும் கொழும்பு மாநாட்டில் கலந்துகொள்ளக் கூடாது என்று அந்நாடுகளில் வாழும் தமிழர்கள் போராட வேண்டும் என்றும் நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி வேண்டுகோள் விடுக்கிறது. 

Gwadar Port to be functional in next five months

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/gwadar-port-to-be-functional-in-next-five-months/

                                                           Photo credit: www.chinapage.com

Gwadar Port, located on the shores of the Arabian Sea in the western province of Balochistan and developed with huge Chinese investment, will be made fully functional in the next five month’s time, Pakistan’s Minister for Ports and Shipping Senator Kamran Michael has said.

Gwadar Port, which is about 533 km from Karachi and 120 km from Iranian border, is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, just outside the Straits of Hormuz, near the key shipping routes in and out of the Persian Gulf.

The Minister made the important announcement about Gwadar Port at the inaugural session of the 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Shipping, Logistics and Supply Chain Management 2013, organised by the Publicity Channel in collaboration with Ministry of Ports & Shipping, Pakistan International Freight Forwarding Association, Pakistan Shipping Agents Association and Air Cargo Agents Association at Karachi.

Senator Kamran Michael said: “Almost 60 per cent of development work, with specific reference to road infrastructure, has been completed at the site. This port will connect Gulf region and the Middle-East to Southeast Asia and is equally vital for national growth and in securing economy of Pakistan.”

Currently, Pakistan has two main operating international deep-sea ports: Karachi Port and Port Qasim. EXIM experts in the country felt that during the coming years, their capacity expansion programmes are unlikely to keep pace with the expected growth in demand, resulting in a need for a third port to fill the gap.

While Karachi Port has significant physical limitations and will not be able to grow since it is within the city of Karachi itself (something like Chennai Port in Tamil Nadu), Port Qasim, though having a large physical space for expansion, development here is hampered by its up-stream location, which is more than 40 km from the open sea, resulting in long turnaround times for visiting ships.

The Minister on the occasion also announced that the ship breaking industry is being moved to Port Qasim for which 170 acres of land has been earmarked and development work is being carried on.

Addressing the gathering at the event, Mr. Moin A. Malik, Chief Executive Officer, Agility Logistics, said that almost 44 million containers move in Asia between different ports and its biggest volume is 4.5 million tonnes between Europe and  Asia.

Almost 22 times growth is noticed within Asia alone as China’s global trade is estimated at dollars 2.38 trillion by 2012 and the Central Asian trade was 104 billion dollars in 2012, he added.

JSW Steel commits to export huge quantity of slag through Chennai Port

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/jsw-steel-commits-to-export-huge-quantity-of-slag-through-chennai-port/

As an outcome of vigorous marketing from Chennai Port’s Traffic Department over the past few months to get more captive cargo to tide over the looming revenue loss after the Madras High Court ban on coal and iron ore, steel major M/s. JSW Steel Ltd has committed to use the facilities in the port to export Blast Furnace Granulated Slag.

Speaking to Sagar Sandesh, a senior Chennai Port official said that JSW Steel has expressed its ability to export about 40, 000 tonnes of Blast Furnace Granulated Slag every month from Chennai Port. It may be worth recalling at this juncture that JSW Steel is planning to export slag via Chennai after a gap of five years.

Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS or GGBFS) is obtained by quenching molten iron slag (a by-product of iron and steel-making) from a blast furnace in water or steam to produce a glassy, granular product that is then dried and ground into a fine powder.

“We expect to handle about 2.5 Lakh tonnes of Blast Furnace Granulated Slag for the remaining period of the current financial year 2013-14,” the port official added.

The commitment for export comes at a time, when the port management was vigorously marketing in different regions and ways for securing more and more captive cargo to tide over the expected revenue loss arising out of a sudden ban by the Madras High Court on handling of dusty cargoes like coal and iron ore.

“Certainly, the new export cargo would help us to improve revenue base and steps are afoot to garner more such export cargo into Chennai Port, so that the impact of that ban remain very minimal,” the official pointed out.

Besides, the availability of more vacant space inside Chennai Port for storage at previously coal-stacking yards near south side of the port also started attracting regular import of Hot Rolled Steel Coils, which rakes in sustained revenue for the management in the last few months.

In the first half, Chennai Port had created a few record handlings, which are seen as a morale booster for the employees of the Port Trust.

About 10, 901 tonnes of granite block was loaded in a single day on April 28 by the vessel MV GRANDE FORTUNA surpassing the previous record handling of 8, 110 tonnes on April 24, 2006 through the vessel MV VOYAGER V.

Besides, 22, 066 tonnes of millscale had been loaded in a single day on May 26 into the vessel MV EMERALD STAR surpassing the previous record handling of 20, 485 tonnes on Nov. 29, 2004 through the vessel MV CHUN HO.

Around 12, 662 tonnes of jumbo barytes had been loaded in a single day on July 11 by the vessel MV KONSTANTINOS surpassing the previous record handling of 9, 051 tonnes on March 30 this year through the vessel MV NORMASA G.

A record of 12, 700 tonnes of gypsum was discharged through the vessel MV Common Faith in a single day on July 25 surpassing the previous record handling of 11, 900 tonnes on July 17, 2012 through the vessel MV GUOYU 51.

Furthermore, 781 tonnes of cement was loaded in a single day on Aug. 29 by the vessel MV GATI PRIDE surpassing the previous record handling of 750 tonnes on Jan. 10, 2011 through the vessel MV  HOA LU.

Similarly, 6, 300 tonnes of sulphur had been discharged in a single day on Sept. 16 by MV TOXOTIS surpassing the previous record handling of 6, 200 tonnes on Feb 10,  2006 by the vessel MV JU BAO MEN.

Further, 13,518 tonnes of HR coil had been loaded (exported) in a single day on Sept. 21 by the vessel MV Trade Star surpassing the previous record loading of 10, 849 tonnes on Feb, 9 this year through the vessel MV Marietta.

7 ships detained for MLC-related deficiencies in first month of implementation

Source:http://www.parismou.org

During the first month of implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006), seven ships were detained for MLC-related deficiencies.

On Aug 20 this year, MLC, 2006 entered into force and became a relevant instrument for the Paris MoU, thus making the MLC requirements officially subject to Port State Control (PSC).

According to a latest media release, it means that 10% of the total number of detentions (68) in the Paris MoU area in this period was MLC 2006 related.

The detentions were imposed by four different port States: Canada (two ships), Denmark, the Russian Federation and Spain (three ships). The detained ships were flying the flag of Cyprus (two ships), Liberia, the Netherlands, Panama (two ships) and Tanzania.

A total of 4,260 deficiencies have been recorded during the first month of MLC implementation. About 490 deficiencies out of the 4,260 recorded (11.5%) were related to any of the ILO Conventions listed as relevant instrument.

Of the 494 deficiencies, 30 (6,1%) were considered to be serious enough to be a ground for detention. 23 of those 30 (76.7%) were related to breaches of the MLC and resulted in the detention of seven  individual ships.

Pic courtesy: http://www.safety4sea.com/

The total number of detentions was 68 during 1,532 inspections, which resulted in a detention rate of 4,4%.

The MLC, 2006 applies to all ships engaged in commercial activities. International certification is required for all ships of 500GT and over, making international voyages. 

The requirements of the MLC, 2006 have to be implemented on board at the entry into force date 20 August 2013.

Only the member States of the Paris MoU who have ratified the MLC,2006 on or before 20 August 2012 are entitled to conduct PSC inspections on MLC, 2006 requirements from 20 August 2013. As a result the twelve member States -- Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Spain and Sweden --have started enforcing the MLC  2006.

Eom.Saravanan

Chennai Custom House Agents stage demo

Source:http://www.sagarsandesh.com/news/chennai-custom-house-agents-stage-demo/
Chennai:
With a view to drawing the attention of the top brass of Chennai Customs Commissionerate over undue delay in processing import bills, hundreds of representatives and field-staff of Chennai Custom House Agents staged an attention-seeking demonstration on Oct. 7.

The representatives were forced to stage a demonstration in front of the Chennai Customs Commissionerate gate, as the processing of import bill by the Chennai Customs officials has now been prolonged to a week against the earlier practice of a maximum 48 hours.

According to a CHA representative, who participated in the token attention-seeking demonstration, officials of the Chennai Customs are deliberately delaying the process due to different reasons.

Speaking to Sagar Sandesh, the representative said: “Though the Commissionerate is among the few in the country, which gets good revenue year after year, shortage of field officers for verifying imported containers and processing those bills has brought the whole process to a standstill.”

It may be worth recalling here that the Chennai Customs Commissionerate’s revenue collection (including both sea and air) remains at around Rs. 20, 000 crores annually over the past few years. And for the first six months (up to Oct. 9, 2013) in the current financial year, the Commissionerate had collected revenue of about Rs. 12, 606 crores.

“When they (Customs) get these much revenue from Chennai, why are they delaying the processing of verifying imported consignments and bills, which could eat into their revenue collections,” lamented another CHA representative.

Besides Air Customs, Chennai has more than 30 Container Freight Stations (CFSs) to cater to the demand of EXIM fraternity’s sea freight requirements.

However, shortage of designated officers has forced the Chennai Customs top brass to post a single officer for processing import bills in four or five CFSs. Due to such a commitment the Customs officials are unable to process more bills everyday and it has badly affected the whole process.

“We earnestly appeal to the Chief Commissioner of Customs to see our plight and appoint more officials at all CFSs, so that import segment does not suffer,” said the agitators.