ICD’s have brought custom clearance to the doorstep of exporters and importers, however, due to uncertainty of rail transit some of the cargoes moved back on road to be cleared at the port.

While DICT had regular train services to gateway ports and has been running 8-9 trains/week to Mundra, cargo shift from rail to road was increasing on a regular basis due to uncertainty of train movement.

Vessel cutoff time has been very crucial for exporters who supply goods to big brands like Target, Walmart, K-Mart, etc. To overcome the situation of delay, Delhi International Cargo Terminal (DICT) discussed this matter with Indian Railways and started timetable trains assuring scheduled transit time from DICT to Mundra.

With detailed study on the customer requirement some of challenges faced by customers were identified like :

• Selection of containers

Selection of right container worthy for stuffing of specific cargo is very important, with detailed checkpoints made in association with the shippers and buyers, DICT has nominated in house team for selection of right containers which has reduced the rejection of containers from 5-8% to almost nil.

• Transportation for factory stuffing

With inhouse transport DICT can place the empty containers at the designated time slots at the factory premises, with placement of containers at the designated time, DICT has been able to reduce the idle labor time, thereby bringing increased efficiency and reduced loss due to idle man-hour.

• Stacking as per customer’s requirement

With proper yard planning and RFID tagging containers designated for same day clearance are pre stacked in a nominated place which requires minimum maneuvering of heavy equipment and manpower which helps in same day clearance by customs officials.

• Pre-Stacking of containers for Loading on rail

Once the containers are custom cleared, containers are pre- stacked on rail side to avoid delays in shifting of containers, as soon as the rail is ready for loading, containers are loaded on the train.

• Loading of containers on rail

With proper planning the loading of rakes is completed by 9 pm everyday and the train departs every day at 10 pm.

• Tracking and Visibility to customer

With the use of technology and network DICT can track the entire movement of containers be it on road, inside the yard or on rail network which helps in bringing certainty in the entire movement chain.

By using rail transport, carbon saving would be approximately 24% which can be calculated as carbon credit for modal shift of freight movement.

All this has been possible only because of the large number of containers handled by DICT which gives confidence to Indian railways of load availability every day. DICT has assured customers that this timetable train service will bring about a change in the movement of export cargo and will benefit its customers and service providers.

Delhi International Cargo Terminal At Sonepat