CHENNAI: The Centre has decided to allow two more ports APM Terminals, Pipavav Port in Gujarat and L&T Kattupalli Port near Chennai to handle import of high-end cars/vehicles, taking the total number to 14.
At present, six seaports and three airports are allowed to handle import of these high-end vehicles.
Even though India is a major automobile hub, the number of commercial and passenger vehicles imported into the country is small.
During April-November 2014, a little over 1,200 trucks and buses were imported into India.
In the recent months, Kamarajar (Ennore) Port handled a handful of imported trucks. Chennai Port has handled only bus imports.
According to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), new vehicles are imported through air cargo complexes in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, and three Inland Container Depots in Talegaon, Pune, Tughlakabad and Faridabad. The ports include Nhava Sheva, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ennore and Cochin. .
L&T Kattupalli official said it would take at least a month for the first vessel containing imported vehicles to get docked into their port. “Though four lakh cars/vehicles are exported annually from Chennai, the import is still in three digits. This will go up in the coming months.”
Welcoming the move, port users said the Centre had provided one more venue for the trade to import high-end vehicles as ports had limited space to accommodate Roll-On Roll-Off (RO-RO) vessels. “Maharashtra is the major importer of high-end cars and vehicles, followed by Karnataka. Hence, the Centre has provided two more ports for imports and this augurs well for the trade,” he said.
EY Tax Partner Samir Kanabar said that if the Centre had added two ports only for imports of vehicles then it had to be seen in different perspective.
“Apart from aiding Made-in-India initiative, the announcement will help some of the global car manufacturers import vehicles in completely knocked down condition or to set up units to manufacture special engines or components here that could be exported to neighbouring countries,” he said.
