Govt issues EoI for unified customs portal to integrate ICEGATE, RMS, ICES

CBIC has floated an EoI to shortlist up to eight bidders for building a Customs Integrated System that unifies ICEGATE, RMS and ICES to cut cargo clearance time

The Centre on Friday issued the expression of interest (EoI) to appoint an implementation agency for a proposed Customs Integrated System (CIS), formally kicking off the bidding process for a large-scale overhaul of India’s indirect tax technology architecture.

 

Business Standard on December 8 had reported that the government was planning to fully digitise customs operations by integrating key platforms — the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), Risk Management System (RMS) and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) — into a single unified national platform or CIS with a target to cut cargo clearance time to 24 hours.

 

The EoI was floated by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) through its Directorate General of Systems and Data Management. Interested bidders can submit their responses till January 21, 2026, with bids scheduled to be opened on January 23. A pre-EoI workshop was held on December 22 to address technical and process-related queries from prospective bidders. The procurement will follow a two-stage process, with the EoI phase aimed at shortlisting up to eight bidders based on technical capability and experience. Both single bidders and consortiums of up to three members are permitted to apply, according to the document.

 

 

The CIS is a proposed unified IT platform intended to integrate the existing systems, which currently operate on different software platforms and do not seamlessly communicate with each other.

 

Officials have said this fragmentation leads to delays, duplication of processes and manual interventions in import and export clearances.

 

Shortlisted bidders under the EoI stage will be invited to participate in a subsequent request for proposal (RFP) process, under which detailed technical and financial bids will be evaluated before the final contract is awarded.

 

According to government officials, the proposed system is planned to be implemented from April 1, 2027, and would be among the largest sovereign IT transformation projects undertaken in the indirect tax administration. The objective is to enable end-to-end digitisation of Customs processes, remove data silos and improve operational efficiency across ports.

 

Once operational, the unified platform is expected to enable faster and more automated cargo clearances, strengthen risk-based targeting and reduce disputes arising from system-level mismatches. “Assessment, refunds and goods testing are planned to be made completely faceless under the proposed system, while dispute resolution will be fully digitised,” a government official said.