Container trade between India and Pakistan may soon become a reality. This will help in the faster movement of goods directly from origin to destination.
At present, trade between the two countries across the Attari-Wagah border is permitted both via rail and road. However, due to the shortage of rail wagons, the road route is preferred.
Till September 2007, export-import consignments used to be exchanged as head loads on the zero line. However, since October 1, 2007, cargo-laden vehicles have been allowed to cross the border up to a designated point in both the countries where the goods are unloaded and then carried to various places by local transport.
“We have written to the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) saying there is a demand for container trade through the Attari border. We have suggested setting up a dry port near the Integrated Check Post (ICP). The Finance Ministry has taken up the matter with the Commerce Ministry,” Customs Commissioner (Amritsar) K.K. Sharma said.
He said the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) could be entrusted with the task of building the storage facility for container trade. Currently the storage and warehousing facility at the ICP Attari border is being handled by the CWC.
Goods coming from Pakistan are unloaded at the ICP at Attari, situated 32 km from Amritsar and 28 km from Lahore. At the same time, goods exported from India are unloaded at Wagah on the other side of the zero line. Trucks can cross the border between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day. Drivers from both countries are issued one-day special permits and they are required to return to their home country the same day.
Sharma said that Customs officials manually clear around 200 truckloads of goods for Pakistan every day. The department is in the process of securing a scanner by the end of 2013 for speedier clearance. The Pakistan side already has a scanner installed at the border to check every truck coming from India.
He also said that if both the rail and the road routes work at full capacity, trade could go up by 200 per cent. Until March 2012, a goods train (the interchange) used to come from and go to Lahore almost every day.
Since then, however, the frequency of the interchange as well as the number of wagons has dwindled so much that during December 2012, only 12 interchanges (238 wagons) took place.
This has shifted the trade from the rail to road route as seen by the long queues of trucks at the ICP, Sharma said.