JNPT improves avg release time for imports to 144 hrs: Study

The average release time for imports through the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has improved significantly to 144.18 hours this year from 181.34 hours last year, according to a study.

The study, conducted by the Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House (JNCH) between January 1 and January 7, covered all the 14,973 bills of entry filed during the period and tracked them till February 7, when the data was frozen for analysis.

As per the National Trade Facilitation Action (TFA) plan, the target for imports' release time, or the time taken from arrival of the goods to release by customs, is 72 hours.

The study, however, revealed that the TFA goal of 72 hours is still a distant dream and it would require concerted efforts and 'leap frog' approach to achieve it within a specified time period.

The report analysed various data sources, including customs, port terminals, container freight station (CFSs), participating government agencies (PGAs) like FSSAI, drug controller and textiles committee, besides live tracking of bills of entry and shipping bills.

Meanwhile, the gross average export release time through JNPT, measured from the time of departure of cargo from factory premises till departure of the vessel, was found to be 108 hours in the period under review.

However, the net average export release time, arrived at by excluding the domestic transport time from the gross average export release time, was 84.1 hours.

The finding is consistent with the findings of the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business 2018' report, which found the export release time to be 85 hours, excluding the time taken in domestic transport.

The methodology adopted for computation of export release involved collection of data of top five exporters in respect of each of six major categories of goods - frozen meat, frozen fish, pharmaceuticals, automobile parts, two and three wheelers and electrical machinery.