The action plan, which will span over three years till 2023 and will be executed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, also calls for setting up a National Air Cargo Community System that will enable advance slot booking and hence improve efficiency of processing airfreight shipments.
India is likely to develop dedicated midnight freight corridors for better management of freight into ports and airports, as part of the National Trade Facilitation Action Plan that outlines steps to improve India’s ease of doing business ranking among global peers.
The ministry of road transport and highways and the National Highway Authority of India will work on the project along with state governments as it would require land use approvals, as per the action plan. The NTFAP has kept the timeline for execution at three years, which includes expediting construction of the Maduravoyal Elevated Corridor in Chennai that has been stalled for many years.
The action plan, which will span over three years till 2023 and will be executed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, also calls for setting up a National Air Cargo Community System that will enable advance slot booking and hence improve efficiency of processing airfreight shipments.
To be implemented over a period of six to 18 months, the system will include radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging of trucks and unit load device or freight loading machines used at airports. Electronic checking of tags will optimise gate operations and reduce turnaround time of vehicles.
An enhanced 'single window' interface for all government approvals and clearances has also been proposed. This will include digital preference certificate of origin for export to countries with which India has trade agreements, digital sharing of shipping bill automatically for export shipments and integration with Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s system.
The action plan also aims to amend Advance Ruling Rules to operationalise the decentralized architecture of Authority for Advance Rulings. The CBIC will have to issue a notification to include tariff rate quotas, valuation and exemption and any other area as a subject for advance rulings, it specified. Change the customs brokers licensing regulations to enable appeal and review, also by February 2022, has been planned.
The plan also proposes to mandate provisional assessment as it aims to de-link release of cargo from duty payments, taxes, fees or other charges.
“Explore feasibility of implementing a financial instrument for the purpose of revenue protection in order to expedite clearance of goods wherein the amount of guarantee shall not be higher than the amount that would be required to ensure the payment of the dues,” the action plan specifies.
Experts said that the steps prescribed in the plan alongside adoption of technology tools are likely to push India further up the ease of doing business rankings. The country aims to break into the top 50 from 63 in 2019.
“If implemented well, the plan would significantly help India's trade in next few years,” said Pratik Jain, partner indirect tax at PwC India.
With all the steps put together, India aims to reduce release time of exports of air cargo to 12 hours and of sea cargo to within 24 hours, by 2023. Imports of air cargo are aimed to be cleared within a day and that coming by sea will be cleared within 48 hours.
Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/roadways/india-likely-to-develop-dedicated-midnight-freight-corridors/articleshow/81530667.cms?from=mdr