Mumbai: The recent border skirmish with China and the consequent measures to fight with Beijing on economic grounds has resulted in a backlog of imports at the Mumbai International Airport. This comes even as traders and various associations are crying foul over delayed consignments.
"Presently. about 70 per cent of Indian import consignments are checked through the automated route. However, since 23 June any consignment coming from China is being subjected to 100 per cent manual checks. The same is true for Mumbai airport. The 100 per cent examination is a huge task for the customs department," a source told India Today.
According to sources, every mobile phone, every consignment at the Mumbai airport is being checked, resulting in a huge backlog to be cleared.
"Cannot put an estimate to the volume of consignment stuck but it is massive," the source added.
High-tension between India and China continues to hog headlines as Indians have called for a complete boycott of Chinese goods and the central government has pledged to surge tariffs for China in the aftermath of the border clash in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Meanwhile, these stuck imports are creating hardships for traders and industry as their consignments are getting delayed for delivery and are also impacting production.
With further impact on the supply chain, the importers are alleging that they are at the receiving end.
"This is a sudden change. We have not been informed by the government if there has been any change in the policy. These random checks and examinations will only lead to harassment of the importers," a trader said, on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, while there is no official confirmation, the increased amount of checks by the customs are because of the intelligence alerts.
However, another person said that these checks have been in place at Mumbai airport for the past four days which should let the importers know that this is the new procedure.
27/06/20 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today
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"Presently. about 70 per cent of Indian import consignments are checked through the automated route. However, since 23 June any consignment coming from China is being subjected to 100 per cent manual checks. The same is true for Mumbai airport. The 100 per cent examination is a huge task for the customs department," a source told India Today.
According to sources, every mobile phone, every consignment at the Mumbai airport is being checked, resulting in a huge backlog to be cleared.
"Cannot put an estimate to the volume of consignment stuck but it is massive," the source added.
High-tension between India and China continues to hog headlines as Indians have called for a complete boycott of Chinese goods and the central government has pledged to surge tariffs for China in the aftermath of the border clash in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Meanwhile, these stuck imports are creating hardships for traders and industry as their consignments are getting delayed for delivery and are also impacting production.
With further impact on the supply chain, the importers are alleging that they are at the receiving end.
"This is a sudden change. We have not been informed by the government if there has been any change in the policy. These random checks and examinations will only lead to harassment of the importers," a trader said, on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, while there is no official confirmation, the increased amount of checks by the customs are because of the intelligence alerts.
However, another person said that these checks have been in place at Mumbai airport for the past four days which should let the importers know that this is the new procedure.
27/06/20 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today
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