India is expected to introduce Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for Express clearances in the coming months, improving efficiency in trade documentation and eliminating piles of paper work.
“This will be a big step to the government’s continuing efforts on improving overall efficiency and move closer to an effectively paperless administrative regime,” said R. S. Subramanian, DHL Express’ Senior Vice President and Country Manager for India.
Express Industry Council of India (EICI) has worked with Central Board of Excise and Customs, in developing the EDI for the Express Industry.
“We have spent over five years working on the EDI system,” Subramanian told fii-news.com. He described the introduction of EDI as part of India’s overall digitization programme.
Subramanian also welcomed the Union Budget for 2016-17, describing it as the government’s continuing pro-business efforts to accelerate infrastructure development and boost economic activities in the country.
“It is a balanced budget for the country. It will position India on a strong footing for 2017-18 and for the long-term growth,” he said.
The budget has increased focus on the development of roads, ports and airports. It has proposed that 160 airports/airstrips where additional investments between Rs 50 and Rs 100 Crores per airport will be made to support connectivity and development, he noted.
“This budget announcement on infrastructure is in the right direction,” added the veteran of the Express delivery and international shipping industry.
But he also reaffirmed the industry’s call for an urgent need to develop infrastructure for Courier & Cargo Segments at the airports as the country’s imports and exports are projected to increase manifold in the coming years.
Subramanian singled out aspects of the budget that impact the logistics sector – the facility for single window clearance for customs at major ports, deferred duty payment provision for importers with proven track record and the doubling of limit for duty free import value for gifts from Rs 10,000 – to Rs 20,000. These are all the right steps to improve efficiencies for international trade, he observed.
Subramanian said DHL Express will continue to invest in India, as it has done so in the past years. These investments, both in terms of facilities and services, will help DHL Express stay ahead of the market demand.
“We are committed to the Indian market and will continue to invest, stay competitive in the industry and drive greater service quality for consumers,” he said.
Elaborating, he said, “In the last 12 months, we have added over 200 employees and set up 6 new services centres in Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Karur, Pune and Nasik and now have a network of 40 Service centres across the country.”
DHL Express and its sister company in India, Blue Dart, have established a distribution network that covers over 700 towns across the country giving an unmatched reach for International express service.
The International express market in India grew by an estimated 11% in the past year and DHL Express continued to grow well ahead of the market.
DHL Express has been in India for close to 40 years, being the pioneer of express services in India. It continues to introduce some of the latest global systems, digitization, data management and scanner technologies. It also shares best practices from global businesses. fii-news.com.
