Two dedicated express terminals at IGI airport

The DHL Express Terminal and EICI Express terminal, the two dedicated Express Terminals at Indira Gandhi International Airport have been set up in record time by DHL Worldwide Express and the industry body, Express Industry Council of India (EICI). This is the first government-private venture in the industry. The terminal is spread over about 26,000 sq.ft. of space.
DHL has a custom bonded warehouse in the Delhi facility. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) have given DHL independent custodianship of customers'' consignments making the Delhi unit a completely independent state-of-the-art self-contained facility. For the first time in India, DHL will have Customs'' staff onsite at its premises, which will enable speedier clearances and faster throughput for its customers.
It will be a round-the-clock customs clearance service - and the first of its kind in the industry. DHL already operates the only toll free 24-hour - 365 days - customer service operation available in India - and this service is available across 150 cities.
The EICI express terminal represents an investment of approximately Rs 1.5 crore by this trade body representing the express industry. The fully-wired facility, spread over approximately 1500 sq m has provision for accommodating offices of member organizations, a common business center for the smaller companies that may not be able to set up independent offices, banks, space for customs and security operations. Another achievement for the terminal will be the de-congestion of the passenger terminals, removing the inconvenience to passengers using the airport.
At its express terminal, the EICI would act as the custodian of inbound and outbound express consignments appointed by the Customs authorities, resulting in expeditious clearing of the consignments of express companies.
"We have planned this facility to operate on a 24x7x365 basis. With this terminal, the Delhi airport is amongst the world''s major express traffic hubs, which have separate dedicated express terminals. Collaborative express terminals such as our facility offer efficiency of shared costs - and therefore lower costs - which benefits all our member companies. Moreover, with a dedicated terminal, volumes will increase, leading to greater revenue for the companies, the Customs Department and all agencies involved," said Tushar Jani, chairman of the Express Industry Council of India.
Chris Callen, country manager, DHL India described the DHL Express Terminal as the first and only company-dedicated facility with on-site presence of customs at any airport in India. "We plan to success-transfer this world-class state-of-the-art airport express terminal initiative at New Delhi airport to other major cities soon. We have embarked on a four-gateway strategy with the aim of setting up world-class state-of-the-art on-airport express terminals in Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore."
This would prove to be a boon for most exporters and importers. Also the passengers will gain a lot with these facilities.