The EXIM trade in Nagpur has been severely affected due to non-availability of trains to move export containers from CONCOR Inland Container Depot (ICD), Nagpur to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), widely known as Nhava Sheva Port. Custom House Agents said that over 950 containers are stranded in CONCOR Inland Container Depot (ICD), MIHAN from the past 10-15 days. The agents mentioned that there is lack of proper logistics planning due to which these containers are stuck and not moving to their destination -- Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai. Exporters are concerned about the fate of their container shipments not reaching their destinations on the schedule time due to which they will have to incure huge expenses such as shipment delay charges, getting next vessel at higher rates, delay in payment and blockage of working capital.

 

Sudhir Agrawal, former President of Nagpur Customs House Agents Association (NCHA) said that the container shipment delays is forcing them to incur heavy losses and penalties. He also said that the concerned authorities should remove the bottlenecks and develop the infrastructure to handle huge volume of containers. “Proper planning and extra efforts are required to clear the backlog,” he added. The CONCOR officials should increase the frequency and number of trains to clear the container backlog. Similarly, there are over 1,000 import containers waiting to be brought to Nagpur, but are stuck at Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai due to lack of train service. A large number of items in bulk quantities are exported from central India like rice, engineering items, steel, yarn etc.