Government starts operation of its own CFS in Kolkata

Kathmandu, August 30

The container freight station (CFS) built by the government itself at Kolkata dry port in India came into operation from Thursday.

Issuing a statement today, Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has expressed its gratitude towards the government for operating its own CFS. The newly built CFS was inaugurated by Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav.

As per the statement, Kishor Kumar Pradhan, vice president of FNCCI, also participated in the inauguration ceremony of the CFS. The inauguration ceremony was participated by other high-level officials from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Kolkata dry port and other Nepali stakeholders.

CFS is a warehouse where goods carrying vehicles are kept to complete the legal process of import and export.

“This initiative of the government will reduce the extra charges that Nepali traders have been paying for the import and export of goods via Kolkata dry port. FNCCI had been requesting the government for this facility since long. Now, finally the government has brought its own CFS into operation and FNCCI believes that this initiative will provide some respite to Nepali traders,” reads the statement.

The statement further mentioned that with the government’s own CFS, Nepali traders can now store their cargo containers at a cheaper rate. The statement adds that the CFS has the capacity to store around 500 containers.

Kolkata dry port was charging INR 45 to INR 65 per tonne per day from Nepali importers. However, after the operation of the Nepal government-owned container freight station, Nepali importers can now store their goods at half the amount, the statement adds.

“It will surely benefit Nepali traders but ultimately it will be the consumers who will benefit. Prior to this, the government had launched the electronic cargo tracking system on February 15 to clear cargo vehicles coming via Kolkata dry port. That initiative has also contributed in the improvement of import-export of the country,” the statement mentions.