Visakhapatnam customs department which has jurisdiction over the ports of Visakhapatnam port authority, Gangavaram port, Vizag International airport and various CFSs has achieved revenues of Rs 11,198.36 crores as of January 2025.
The principal commissioner of customs, Visakhapatnam Mr N Sridhar disclosed this number at the recently held International customs day celebrations in Vizag.
During the last financial year i.e., 2023-2024, Visakhapatnam Customs contributed revenues of Rs 15167.62 Crores to the national exchequer.
The department’s target for this fiscal (FY25) is to achieve revenues of Rs 15,240 crores of which it has already garnered Rs 11,198.36 crores as of Jan 2025.
Addressing the gathering Mr Sridhar informed of the various digitisation and modernisation efforts undertaken by the customs department in enhancing ease of doing business and trade facilitation.
‘In India we have adopted digitalisation and modernisation of Customs procedures for more than 30 years.
Indian Customs digital infrastructure comprises ICEGATE, which enables Customs interaction with all its stakeholders online with minimal interface.
The Indian Customs EDI system is the core application for processing all the export and import related documents.
ICES enables transparency and efficiency for all its stakeholders’ noted the principal commissioner customs. Highlighting some of the new initiatives that have been initiated in the last one year he informed that all the SEZs are integrated with ICES, integration of ICEGATE with national logistics portal ‘Sagar Setu’, introduction of Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations (SCMTR) and filing of Sea Arrival Manifest (SAM) and Sea Departure Manifest (SDM), New Types of bills of entry for clearance of cargo which do not have any IGM details and many other such initiatives.
These initiatives along with many others have resulted in efficient handling of Customs related documents by reducing the dwell time i.e. the time taken for the cargo to be cleared from the time of filing of IGM to Out of Charge (OOC) from Customs said the principal commissioner customs.
He further informed that Facilitation of cargo after screening for security is done through RMS software thereby nearly 90% of cargo is facilitated without Assessment or examination.
International Customs Day
The day is celebrated under the aegis of World Customs Organization (WCO) headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
WCO is recognized as the voice of the global customs community with 180 Customs Administrations as members worldwide.
This year’s theme is “Customs delivering on its Commitment to Efficiency, Security. VPA’s chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu, IAS, participated as Chief Guest along with Mr M. Srinivas, IRSME, Development Commissioner, VSEZ, as Guest of Honour.
Similarly, Mr Sanjay Rathi, IRS, Chief Commissioner of Customs & CGST along with other dignitaries presided over the function.
