Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 115]
Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 115]
Notice (8): Trying to access array offset on value of type null [APP/View/Articles/view.ctp, line 116]

Shipping Companies Start Delivering Goods at Nepal’s Doorstep

  1 min 53 sec to read

July 11: Shipping companies are having tough competition in delivering goods to Nepal from third countries. Due to the competition, the companies are eager to make their service more efficient. This is likely to reduce the transportation fare.

MSC Agency India Pvt Ltd has started delivering goods in containers right up to Birgunj Dry Port since July 1. Before this, the company used to deliver the containers carrying goods only till Kolkata’s sea port.

“This has reduced the fine the importers had been paying till now,” says Rambabu Sah, an official of Himalayan Terminal Pvt Ltd that operates the Birgunj Dry Port.

Until now, all the shipping companies used to deliver goods only up to Kolkata. The goods can be kept there for 14 days. However, Nepali importers had been paying heavy fines for not being able to clear the goods on time. According to the importers, they had been paying Rs 2 billion fine annually.

Delivery of goods till Birgunj has become a huge respite for the Nepali importers, says immediate past president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, Pradeep Kumar Kedia.

Nepali importers have benefitted a lot from the competition among big shipping companies. Maerks Shipping Line has also started delivering containers till Birgunj. It has also increased the time period for unloading the containers. Both the companies have provided 21 days for the importers to clear the goods from their containers.

Rajesh Kafle, a local importer, says that the government should make arrangements for shipping companies to deliver containers till Birgunj. He argues that the consumers will ultimately benefit if the transportation cost gets slashed.

According to Sah, MSC charges up to Rs 3500 per container for delivering  goods up to Birgunj. The charge also includes goods and service tax (GST).

Likewise, Maerks has been transporting goods from Indian port of Vishakhapatnam to Birgunj since one month. Normally, one train carries 90 containers but the company has announced to deliver the same amount of goods using just 50 to 60 containers.

It has been learnt that the Kolkata-based shipping companies have started providing efficient services after Nepali importers showed their interest to bring goods from Visakhapatnam. 

Deprecated (16384): Using key `action` is deprecated, use `url` directly instead. [CORE/Cake/View/Helper/FormHelper.php, line 383]
No comments yet. Be the first one to comment.