Odisha gets first foreign post office

Odisha has got its first Foreign Post Office (FPO) with the opening of the facility in Mancheswar area here.

The FPO, which was inaugurated at the premises of the Postal Printing Press at Mancheswar here on Saturday, will facilitate customs clearance and booking of articles or consignments for foreign countries, a senior official said.

Articles booked in Odisha for foreign countries were earlier routed through the FPO located in Kolkata for the purpose of customs clearance that caused delay in processing and transmission, the official said.

The new facility has come as a boon for the customers, who earlier faced delay in processing and transmission of mails and articles, he said.

"The entire operation will now become smooth and prompt," he said.

In view of the earlier system which was time- consuming, the India Post decided to set up the FPO in Bhubaneswar with the joint collaboration of postal and customs departments, another official said.

The newly set up FPO will, initially, facilitate export. After customs clearance, the articles will be dispatched to the destination countries through the Office of Exchange in Kolkata, said S K Kamila, chief postmaster general, Odisha circle.

Subsequently, the office will deal with the inbound as well as outbound foreign articles, once international flights to other countries operate from Bhubaneswar, he said.

The new office will help customers, including exporters from Odisha, and play a significant role in promoting and popularising handlooms and handicraft products of the state, said an official.

From now, the FPO will process all the foreign consignments and mails booked in the post offices across the state.