Bonded trucking service needed

With the necessity to airlift cargoes increasing, an initiative to provide ‘bonded trucking service’ from Tirupur to Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru will come in handy for the industrialists in Tirupur cluster.

The project, conceptualised by Bengaluru airport authorities, ensures that the customs clearance would be done at the air cargo complex set up in Tirupur itself.

The consignments will then be taken in ‘sealed trucks’ arranged by the authorities straight to the airport from where it would be flown to various destinations across the world.

It means, the responsibility of knitwear industrialists to dispatch the cargo will end at Tirupur itself. This will avoid sending persons to airports for coordinating clearances.

“The exporters can immediately get the bills and an claim duty drawback in Tirupur itself,” said S. Saravanan, officer in-charge of operations of the air cargo complex here.

Leading air cargo operators like Singapore airlines, Ethihad, Cathay Pacific, DHL, Emirates, and Qatar Airways provided good connectivity from Bengaluru to across the globe, he said.

Raja Shanmugam, president of Tirupur Exporters Association, said that the facility was a big boon to exporters as airlifting of the cargoes had been going up over the years.

“Usually, around 90 per cent of shipments from Tirupur are traditionally sent by ships with only some last minute dispatches airlifted due to cost factors. But with more orders coming up, exporters have to airlift more quantity to meet short deadlines,” he said.

During the initial period, the air cargo complex authorities here are expecting to process around 200 tonnes of garments a week for dispatch.