Direct Port Entry facility noteworthy step towards boosting Ease of Doing business: Mansukh Mandaviya

The Direct Port Entry (DPE) facility is a noteworthy step towards reducing the logistics cost and to increase the velocity of cargo for boosting ease of doing business and economy growth, said Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday.

The Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) inaugurated the DPE facility of VO Chidambaranar Port Trust today, through video conferencing, by unveiling the e-plaque.

"It is a noteworthy step towards reducing logistics cost and increasing the velocity of the cargo. DPE will help in increasing Ease of Doing Business for the exporters, as the facility will bring efficiency and reduce dwell time, lower tariff cost and improve the competitiveness of shipper in the international trade," Mandaviya said at the event.

The DPE facility would enable direct movement of containers from factories, without intermediate handling at any container freight stations (CFSs), thus facilitating the shippers to Gate-In their factory stuffed exports directly to the Container Terminal on 24x7 basis.

The V.O. Chidambaranar Port trust entered into an Memorandom of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) to operate the facility for 30 years and the Customs department has also approved operating the DPE facility in the port.

Dr Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, in his address, said that the IT enabled infrastructure at the ports will definitely make our ports, world class ports aligning the 'Maritime Vision 2030' of the Ministry of Shipping.

Senior officials of the Ministry of Shipping, TK Ramachandran, Chairman, VO Chidambaranar Port Trust, Arun Kumar Shrivastava, Managing Director, Central Warehousing Corporation and port officials were present in the virtual inauguration held today.

( With inputs from ANI )