Sending Freight to India

India spans over 3 million square kilometres, with a population of over 1 billion people. When you take the size of the subcontinent and the lack of proper infrastructure, there has been much talk about logistical issues in India. These include issues concerning complicate taxation laws, congested airports, and not to mention road networks that need much development. Despite these issues, Transco Cargo with our parent company Transco International strive to offer the best shipping services to India from Australia. If you are keen on understanding the process of sending freight to India, you will find the article quite useful. Furthermore, the Indian government has taken notice of the infrastructure issues concerning the Indian logistics industry.

The National Highways Development Program is keen on revitalising the expressways, railways, airports, and seaports to further connectivity from the various regional hubs. As India holds memberships with various regional and bilateral trade agreements, these infrastructure improvements to the logistics industry will help further strengthen global ties and sending freight to India. They include the likes of the following.

  • WTO (World Trade Organisation)
  • WCO (World Customs Organisation)
  • Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
  • Montreal Protocols
  • Wassanaar Agreement (Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies)
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna
  • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

There are two types of clearances when exporting or importing to India, which are Courier (OBC) or Express Mode of Entry, and Cargo or Formal Entry. Thus, when you are sending freight to India, you need to keep them in mind for classification purposes. Courier (OBC)/Express Mode of Entry essentially refers to non-commercial cargo or packages. These usually include the likes of small gifts, documents and samples, but can be restrictive in terms of the regulations associated with it. However, it’s considerably faster to utilise this type f clearance when sending freight to India than the Cargo/Formal Entry option. The latter refers to freight cargo shipments that are commercial. India has several clearance locations (16) throughout its subcontinent. These clearing locations through India in alphabetical order include Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Kolkata, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Pune, Cochin, Indore, Moradabad, and Varanasi.

When sending freight to India (that is exporting from Australia), you will require to have the following shipping documents sorted; Commercial Invoice, Certificate of Origin, Packing List, Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED), Bill of Entry.  Similarly, when importing to Australia from India, you would require similar shipping documentations with the exception that the Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED)and Bill of Entry are not required. Instead, you will need the likes of Shipper’s Letter of Instruction (SLI), Seller’s Declaration Form (SDF), Guaranteed Remittance Form (GR) or Exchange Control Declaration (ECD).