Inhouse Newsletter - FFFAI NEWS

GOLDEN JUBILEE YEAR
VOL. 1

●

ISSUE 3

CONGRATS!

Ahmedabad CHA
Association on
Silver Jubilee Year

1962

50 years of
Customs Act
coincides with
FFFAI Golden
Jubilee year

2012

Honouring The Past - Celebrating The Present - Welcoming The Future

Congratulation to FFFAI

World Customs Organization, “Certificate of Merit“ awarded to
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman of FFFAI

Mr. Marc Van Peel, Chairman, Port of Antwerp, Certificate
awarded to FFFAI on occasion of Golden Jubilee year

Mr Shantanu Bhadkamkar , Chairman, FFFAI being awarded at
MALA awards in appreciation of its 50 years service to trade

Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar , Chairman , FFFAI being awarded at
Conquest 2013 at N.Delhi towards 50 years of service to industry

Mr. Shankar Shinde, Treasurer, FFFAI accepting award from Mr.
Shashi Kiran Shetty, CMD of AVVASHYA GROUP

Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman FFFAI being awarded at the
Gujarat Star Award toward service to industry

Mr. Shankar Shinde, Treasurer, and Mr. Sailesh Bhatia, FFFAI and
accepting AILBIEA,NEWS Award 1  ISSUE 3
FFFAI Stellar  VOL.
2

Mr. Bharat Thakkar, President, ACAAI congratulates Mr. Shantanu
Bhadkamkar and presents Memento.
EMPOWERING THE FREIGHT FORWARDER

MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN

The greatest discovery of all time is that a
person can change his future by merely
changing his attitude.” - Oprah Winfrey
Dear Members,
‘Certificate Of Merit’ by the ‘World Customs Organisation’ is a prestigious award. It is
a matter of great pride that on the occasion of the International Customs Day 2013
celebration in New Delhi on 5th February 2013, coinciding with the 50 Years of the
Indian Customs Act, I received the Certificate Of Merit as a representative of FFFAI, in
the Golden Jubilee year of FFFAI. Such Awards create a greater sense of responsibility
to the fraternity we belong to and serve thought the platform of FFFAI.
In addition, in the same month FFFAI was honoured in two more events. In the
Conquest 2013 Conference, jointly organised by Exim India and ASSOCHAM on
February 13th, FFFAI was honoured for service to the Industry. In an earlier event,
on February 8th, Port Of Antwerp recognised contributions of FFFAI by presenting a
Certificate of Appreciation to FFFAI; a certificate, rarely issued to organisations.
Shantanu Bhadkamkar
These awards are amongst the chain of recognitions FFFAI has received during last
Chairman, FFFAI
year or so, it is highly satisfying that our apex body is getting it’s due recognition.
Despite our success, this is no time to rest on our laurels. In business we lose some
business to the competitors, and gain some from the competitors. Today, it is no longer a case that merely our competitors
took away a lot of our business; all the CHAs today are faced with a situation of surviving in an industry, which has all the
features of having crossed the maturity phase and and are facing the classical phase described in the motivational book by
Spencer Johnson, written in the style of a parable or business fable. I am please to a link of “Who Moved My Cheese”
short movie. I have read the book long time back and refresher was necessary, it is a good rendition of this book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JL0Xg6YTlk&feature=player_embedded
As Chairman of FFFAI in the Golden Jubilee Year, I take pride of the fact that our members have made significant contributions in facilitating the country’s International trade; on personal level, I am proud of being a Custom House Agent. CHA &
Freight Forwarding business is highly evolutionary in nature, meaning we need to adapt to constant change, continuously
upgrade our knowledge and service, and do so at lowest cost while expecting minuscule monetary return. Hence, Motivation
i.e. sustained motivation is the key of building and maintaining the ability to hold on, so that we can face any challenge from
anywhere in the world. I wish to quote, Booker T. Washington, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that
one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome”. A life of a CHA is full of challenges, endless obstacles
and dire hardship; hence, our success should be measured in the context of the situations of uncertainties we overcome to
service the customer.
Amongst other important developments include the launch of the FIATA Diploma by IIFF. FFFAI Biennial Convention, the
most important event of our Industry will be held from June 13th - 17th, 2013 in New Delhi. It will be held in conjunction
with IFCBA Board Meeting and AGM, hence it will be an International event. IFCBA will host a special session for the FFFAI
delegates. We look forward to see you for the FFFAI Convention. Also on cards is FFFAI Trade Fair, which will give you and
opportunity to you to showcase your services to all the stakeholders.
I hope you liked the FFFAI Handbook, FFFAI Calendar & FFFAI Flag sent to you at the begging of the year. We will appreciate your suggestions on the same.
We really cherish this opportunity of bringing the newsletter to our valued members and stakeholders. Encouraged with
this response, we are extremely pleased to come out with this FFFAI News issue during our Golden Jubilee Year. We will be
happy if we are able to achieve higher heights with a degree of completeness by active participation of everyone.
Please set apart some time out of your busy schedule so that we can get in to an active and fruitful work initiative for
betterment of our members in particular and International Logistics Industry in general; let us get into an active dialogue to
discuss the future plans. We solicit your well considered suggestions for common good. If you’re not yet actively engaged
and want to join the important work we are doing, I urge you to participate in our activities and engage directly by taking
lead in any of the events or assignments.
We hope this edition of the newsletter will be as cherished and enjoyed by the members as much as we enjoyed compiling
it. Wishing you a happy reading time..., and look forward to hear from you.
Shantanu Bhadkamkar
Chairman


FFFAI NEWS  VOL. 1  ISSUE 3

1

CONTENTS - Vol.1 - No.3 MAR 2013

MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN

FFFAI News
FFFAI In-House Magazine & Ezine

8

Taxation a Precursor to
Economic Growth _ K R BHARGAVA

26

Publisher
Shantanu Bhadkamkar

Interview
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar
Chairman - FFFAI

Editor
Shankar Shinde
Technical Content
Case Laws, Important Notices / Notifications
/ Clarifications, Q&A, Nailesh Gandhi, T.V.
Sujan, Anthony D’Souza, George Joseph,
Madhusudan Kumra, A.V Vijaykumar,
Vinod Chowdhary, Vinod Gandhi,
M.G.Sachdeva
Quiz, Contests & Competitions
Philomena Pereira
Coordinator Regional Reports
Capt. Ashish Samarth
Printing & Distribution
Sailesh Bhatia
Advertisements & Sponsors
Sarfaraz Khan
Office Bearers & Presidents of Member Associations
Young Forwarder
Will include once finalized
Thinkable Thoughts
Arun Kumar Sharma
In Lighter Vein
Amit Kumar Jain
Member News – Personal Achievements
Amit Kamat
IIFT News
Radhakrishnan R.
Pankaj Shah
Womens Wing
Philomena Pereira
Counceller’s Corner
Prakash Khemka
Printed & Published by Shantanu Bhadkamkar on behalf of Federation
of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI). Printed at Nikeda
Art Printers Pvt Ltd., Unit No. H & I, Kanjur Industrial Estate, Quarry
Road, Near Mangatram Petrol Pump, LBS Road, Bhandup (W), Mumbai
- 78 and published at Mahinder Chambers, Opp. Dukes Factory, W.T.
Patil Marg, Chembur, Mumbai 400 071. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
including photocopying or scanning without the prior permission of
the publishers. Such written permission must also be obtained from
the publisher before any part of the publication is stored in a retrieval
system of any nature. No liabilities can be accepted for inaccuracies of
any description, although the publishers would be pleased to receive
amendments for possible inclusion in future editions. Opinions reflected
in the publication are those of the writers. The publisher assumes no
responsibilities for return of unsolicited material or material lost or
damaged in transit. All correspondence should be addressed to FFFAI.
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts
and forums in Mumbai only.

2

16 FFFAI Celebrates Golden Jubilee

24 HANDBOOK RELEASE

ORDINARY MEMBERS

10 The use of Social Media by Logistics
and Supply Chain Organizations
30 IIFF- Fiata Diploma Course
Inuagurated
Pancholi
32 Interview with Mr.Kartik Customs
– President Ahmedabad
33
34
36
38
40


House Agents Association

UNION BUDGET 2013-2014
WOMEN WING REPORT
FFFAI Activities and Reports...
FFFAI meet at
Ludhiana, and Amritsar
MILESTONES

NAME OF MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS
Ahmedabad Custom House Agents Association
Aurangabad Custom House Agents Associations
Association of Custom House Agents Trivandrum
Bangalore Custom House Agents Association Ltd.
Bombay Custom House Agents Association
Calcutta Custom House Agents Association
Chennai Custom House Agents Association
Cochin Custom House Agents Association
Coimbatore Custom House & Steamer Agents Association
Custom House Agents Association Hyderabad
Delhi Customs Clearing Agents Association
Goa Custom House Agents Association
Indore Custom House Agents Association
Kakinada Custom House Agents Association
Kandla Custom House Agents Association
Ludhiana Custom House Agents Association
Mangalore Custom House Agents Association
Mundra Custom House Agents Association
Nagpur Custom House Agents Association
Nashik Custom House Agents Association
Pune Custom House Agents Association
Rajasthan Custom House Agents Association
Tuticorin Custom House Agents Association
Visakhapatnam Customs House Agents Association


EDITORIAL

Shankar Shinde
Editor
FFFAI News

Phase to :

Learn – Un-Learn and Re-Learn
It is time for CHAs to review their business strategy with the ongoing economic
slowdown , Looking at the economy stagnation in USA and the recession in Europe , there looks little hopes for India EXIM trade to take off by year end (2013) until there are some
government policies initiatives to take a turnaround on the slowdown.
In the last issue we had covered for a wakeup call , on various aspect , where SWOT analysis needs to
be carried for every business and reviewed with an ongoing economic situation .Further the responsibilities, accountability and liability of CHA ‘s are increased with the change of regulation to Self Assessment
which further fears leading to culpability.
The logistics is the backbone of the EXIM Trade, There is a huge talent gap in logistics requirements
which need to be filled with necessary education and training across the Country, looking for the opportunity in Logistics with FDI norms relaxed in retails with scope for FMCG gives some hope to have
positive long term impact, Logistics would be playing an important role in making the market price competitive for Indian Exporters and Importers with right solutions to cost effective, on time delivery to save
transaction cost and dwell time.
The year ahead 2013 will be of great hopes and challenges , Industry turnaround is predominantly
depend upon government initiatives and policy support to sustain healthy growth in EXIM trade and a
shift in customers behaviour toward more tightening of inventory controls with reduction orders , which
will shift the market from high segment movement cost to lower in logistics.
We have been able to associate with our knowledge partners KPMG ,to understand the present state
of our Industry which was produced in last issue and now look forward to see how the Logistics would
be the Game Changer. We are happy to produce the summary on Logistics Game Changers for our well
wisher, readers in this present FFFAI News issue. Hope you enjoy reading it.
Shankar Shinde
Editor
FFFAI News
shankar.shinde@globalbm.com



3

OFFICE BEARERS
MR. SHANTANU BHADKAMKAR
CHAIRMAN

MR. RAMAN RAJ SUD
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

MR. V.S.PRADEEP
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. A. V. VIJAYAKUMAR
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. NAILESH V. GANDHI
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. AMIT KAMAT
HON. SECRETARY

MR. A. R. RAMARAJ
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. PHILIP CC
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. NARINDER PRABHAKAR
VICE CHAIRMAN

MR. SHANKAR SHINDE
HON. TREASURER

BOARD OF
ADVISORS
SHRI ARVIND N. PARIKH

SHRI VINOD R. GANDHI

SHRI N.T.RAMA RAO

SHRI VINOD K. CHOWDHRY

SHRI KURIEN MATHEW

SHRI RAFEEQ IQBAL

SHRI P.S.KRISHNAN

4

SHRI NAVAL H. MEHTA

SHRI M.G.SACHDEVA

SHRI RAM SHARMA CHUNDURU

MR. R. RADHAKRISHNAN



EXECUTIVE COMMIT TEE
MEMBERS
MR. SAMIR J SHAH

CAPT.PIYUSH SINHA

MR.ASHISH PEDNEKAR MR. O.G. HARI RAJ

MR. PANKAJ SHAH

MR. SAILESH BHATIA

MR. C. B. BUJANGARAM MR. S. PARTHASARATHY

MR.MOHD. NAYEEMUDDIN MR. ADIL KHAN

MR. K. SURESH KUMAR MR. K.S. DESIKAN

MR.SARFARAZ A. KHAN MR.OMPRAKASH AGRAWAL

MR. RAGHU JAIRAM

MR. ALAN JOSE

MR.SHAILENDRA JAIN MR. KAILASH GUPTA

MR.SHASHIDHAR V.HEBBAR

MR. DEBASHIS DUTTA

MR. DEVENDRA THAKKER

MR. PUTTARAJU

MR. RAVI JOSHI

MR. GEORGE JOSEPH

MR.SHANKAR PRASAD VERMA MR.DEBASHISH MODAK MR. S. NATRAJA

MR. R.RAJESH KUMAR MR.DILIEEP T. ABRAHAM MR.G.A.KALYANA MOORTHY MR. C.S.NARENDAR

MR.RAJENDER KUMAR GOYAL MR. S. RAMAKRISHNA MR. J.A. D’SOUZA

MR.ANURAG VIJAYVARGIYA

MR. AMIT KUMAR JAIN MR.SURESH KUMAR SHARMA MR. A.V. RANGA RAO MR. RAMESH BANSAL MR. T. V. SUJAN

MR. PRAMOD SONETA MR. RAJESH VERMA

MR. MADHUSUDAN KUMRA

MR. MANOJ H. KOTAK MR. MANISH MISHRA MR. SHAREEF. M.

MR. M. SHEKHAR PUJARI

MR. SUDHIR AGARWAL

MR. PARMANAND CHAND

MR. S. Y. RANADE

CAPT. ASHISH SAMARTH

MR. JAGVIR SINGHJAIN MR.J.P.JOE VILLAVARAYAR MR.C.KARTHIKEYA PRABU

MR.K.V.KRISHNA KUMAR

MR. P.V. JAGANNATH

MR. ARUN SHARMA

MR. SUDHIR KUMAR JAIN


MR.PRAKASH KHEMKA


5

NOMINEE OF ASSOCIATE
MEMBERS
MRS.PHILOMENA PEREIRA

MR. DILIP BHAT

MR. KIRAN RAMBHIA

MR. RAJENDRA GARACH

MR. S.B. SALIAN

MR. SURESH DALVI

MR.TEJ MAYUR CONTRACTOR

MR. KISHORE T.S.

MR.C.S.NAGENDRA PRASAD

MR. SUBRATA GHOSH

MR. SUDIP DEY

MR. SUJIT CHAKRABORTY

MR. VISHAL DADHA

MR. D. VIJAYKUMAR

MR. B. N. RAJMOGHON

MR.N.V.S.PRASAD

MR. TUSHAR JANI

MR. VIPIN VOHRA

MR. RAJEEV SIKKA

MR. PANKAJ MEHTA

MR. SANJEEV HARALE

MR. ASHOK DHAKANE

SPECIAL INVITEES OF
FFFAI

MR. DUSHYANT MULANI

6

MR. RAVINDRA GANDHI



LIST OF COUNCILS AND SUB-COMMITTEES (2011-13)
NAME OF COUNCIL

SUB-COMMITTEES

Sea Freight Council
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia - Convener
Mr. Alan Jose
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar
Mr. Debhasis Dutta

Banking
Mr. Sarfaraz Khan - Convener
Mr. Sudip Dey

Air Freight Council
Mr. Samir J Shah - Convener
Mr. Vipin Vohra
Mr. Kishore T.S.
Mr.V.S.Pradeep
Customs Council
Mr. Omprakash Agrawal - Convener
Mr. Rajesh Verma
Mr. Sudip Dey
Mr. C. Karthikeya Prabhu
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Mr. T.V.Sujan
Mr. J.A.D‘Souza
Mr.Subrata Ghosh
Mr.Shailendra Jain
Mr.Sudhir Agarwal
ICD based CFS council
Mr. Narinder Prabhakar - Convener
Mr. Sudhir Agarwal
Mr.Shailendra Jain
Mr.Rajesh Verma
Rail/Concor
Capt. Piyush Sinha - Convener
Mr. Anurag Vijayavargiya
Multimodal Transport
Council
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener
Mr. S. B. Salian

Insurance
Mr. Sarfaraz Khan - Convener
Mr.Debashish Modak
Mr. N.V.S.Prasad
Golden Jubilee
Mr. R.Radhakrishnan - Convener
Mr.Ashish Pednekar -Co Convener
Mr.Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Mrs. Philomena Pereira
Members Directory
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia - Convener
Mr.A.R.Ramaraj
Mr.D.Vijaykumar
Service Tax
Mr. A.V.Vijaykuma
Mr. George Joseph
Trade Relations
Mr. V.S.Pradeep
Mr.Philip. C.C
Government Relations
Mr. Ashish Pednekar
International Network
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener
Mr.Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. V.S.Pradeep
Brochure
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia

IT/ EDI Council
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi - Convener
Mr. K.Suresh Kumar
Mr. S. B. Salian

Website
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi - Convener
Mr. Amit Kamat
Mr.Shankar Shinde

Road Council
Mr.George Joseph - Convener
Mr. Sailesh Bhatia
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Mr. S.Nataraja Mr.N.V.S.Prasad
Mr.T.V.Sujan

DMIC/ DFCC
Mr. Arun Sharma - Convener
Mr. Ramesh Bansal
Capt. Piyush Sinha

Port based CFS Council
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar - Convener
Mr. Georg Joseph
Mr. C.Karthikeya Prabhu
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF
FREIGHT FORWARDER
(IIFF)
Chairman
President
Mr Shankar Shinde
Hon. Secretary
Mr. Pankaj Shah

Infrastructure
Mr. V.S.Pradeep - Convener
Mr. Prakash Khemka
Mr. Philip.C.C.
Visioning
Mr. Tushar Jani
Mr.Shantanu Bhadkamkar
CHALR Under Customs
Council
Mr. S.Ramakrishna - Convener
Mr. J.A. D‘Souza
Mr. Madhudushan Kumra
Mr. Devendra Thakker
Disciplinary Action
CFS WING

Hon. Treasurer
Mr. Shankar Shinde
Committee Members
Mr.O.G.Hariraj, Mr. T.V.Sujan, Mr.
Samir Shah, Mr. Alan Jose, Mr.
V.S.Pradeep,
Mr. Debashish Dutta,
Mr. D.Vjaykumar,
Mr. Tej Mayur Contractor


WOMEN WING
MEMBERS
Appellate
Mr. P.S.Krishnan
Constitution
Direct Tax
Mr.A.Ramaraj - Convener
Mr.George Joseph
Mr.Sudhir Agarwal
KYC
Mr. Rajesh Verma - Convener
Mr.Debhashis Modak
Mr. S.Nataraja
AEO/ MRA
Mr. Samir Shah - Convener
Mr. Narinder Prabhakar
Mr. A.V.Vijaykumar
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi
Customs Business Process
Reengineering (Self
Assessment)
Mr. Nailesh Gandhi
Membership
Mr. A.Ramaraj
Registration
Mr.Shankar Shinde - Convener
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Mr. Amit Kamat
Mr. K.S.Desikan
Standard Trading
Conditions
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar Convener Mr. George Joesph
Mr.S.Ramakrishna
Code of conduct
(Harmonization)
Mr. Phillip. C.C
CHALR & Other Cases
Mr. J.A.D‘Souza
MSME
Mr. S.Ramakrishna
Mr. O.G.Hariraj
News letter
Mr. Shankar Shinde
ISO 9001
Mr. Pankaj Shah
Media
Mr. Arun Sharma
FFFAI certificate of
competence
Mr.G.A.Kalyanamoorthy

Aiysha Khan
Alka Shah
Anisha Talajia
Anuradha Prabhakar
Beena Rambhia
Beena Shah
Bela Desai
Binita Tanna
Chaitaly Mehta
Christine Glen
Cinthu T
Deaon Goswamy
Deaons Goswamy
Deeplaxmi Pednekar
Devanshi Shah
Dipti Desai
Geetha Rubin
Janet Dsouza
Jyoti Bhadkamkar
Kajal Shinde
Kirti Chand
Lara Menezes
Leena Ganguly
Marshneel Tarkar
Meena Ramakrishna
Melisia Pereira
Mrunal Tanna
Nagalakshmi C
Naman Shah
Neeta Shah
Niketa D Desai
Nisha Petkar
Pallavi Bhatia
Philomena Pereira
Phoram Sampat
Poonam Sharma
Preceilla G. Goswamy
Preceilla Goswamy
Preeti Garach
Priyaanil Thomas
Pushpaleela Nadar
Radhika Contractor
Ramila N Desai
Rani Das
Rathik D‘Silva
Rekha Pandey
Renu Agrawal
Rita Contractor
Sheena Binu
Shivani Goswamy
Smita Thakkar
Sonali Jhaveri
Sridevi Ramaraj
Suhasini Bobbli
Tanu Nikhra
Tejashri Gosalia
Trisha Agrawal
Usha Bansal
Vandana Khemka
Varsha Parulekar

YOUTH WING MEMBERS
Jisby Ann Bose
Abhijeet P Nair
Abhishek Vasant Patil
Amit Ghosh
Amit Chandrakant Thakker
Ashwin Sankar
Bejoy Majumder
Dev Kumar Mullick
Dr Darshan Mashroo
Gorakh Tukaram Shinde
Gulshan Ashok Dhakane
Harish Ramanathan
Kajal Datta Shinde
Karan Kiran Rambhia

Kashmira Ashok Dhakane
Kriti Venkatesh Dikshit
Mihir Pankaj Shah
Mihir Shantanu Bhadkamkar
Rajeshwar K Pattikankam
Reshma Radhakrishnan Dixit
Rishi Dev Ratan
Rishi Sanjay Tiwari
Rohan Radhakrishnan Dixit
Sangeetha Prabin Kumar
Saptarshi Kar
Sayantan Kumar Ghosh
Suraj A Rajan
Vaibhav Vohra
Vijay Chinnappan Gounder


7

FEATURE

ECONOMIC GROW TH

Taxation a Precursor to
Economic Growth –Part-II

KULDIP R BHARGAVA, FORMER CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS

By K R Bhargava

F

inance Minister’s wish that taxation should be precursor to economic growth is a genuine wish; it is
happenable; it can happen but he needs to build a
movement within the organization involving officers from top to bottom to move to that goal; and removing a fear of unknown in the minds of officers that
retards such movement. I am motivated to write as TIOL
carried a news item in Breaking News Column from
Mumbai in the first week of January, 2013 in regard to
refund of Security Deposit in Project Imports. The story
in brief is follows:
An importer imported heat exchanger plates under the
Project Imports scheme in 2004. In terms of CBEC’s circular, he furnished 2% Security Deposit. After the imports were complete and necessary installation/utilization
certificate was furnished, assessment was finalized and
importer was entitled to refund/release of Security Deposit. The competent authority sanctioned the refund
amounting to Rs. 1,73.754 but credited the same to
Consumer Welfare Fund of India for the reason that

8


applicant could not discharge his obligation as required
under the provisions of Unjust Enrichment in as much as
that burden of 2% of Security Deposit was not passed
on the buyers. Aggrieved by the order, applicant filed
appeal before Commissioner (Appeals) who upheld the
order of the lower authority. Again aggrieved by the
Order in Appeal, party went before CESTAT and it is
CESTAT that gave relief to the importer in December
2012 (2012-TIOL1969 CESTAT Mumbai) and held that
relevant provisions of Section 27 relating to refund of
duty and interest were not applicable in case of refund
of Security Deposit.
It is not difficult to appreciate that Security Deposit is
given/taken in project imports to secure any short levy/
short payment that may come to notice on finalization
of the imports. And if no short levy/short payment is seen
at that time by the competent assessing officer, justice
demands that without wastage of time, Security Deposit should be released to the importer.
Let us look at the relevant part of provisions of Section
27 of the Customs Act, 1962; and for convenience, these
are reproduced below: [Section 27- Claim for refund of
duty.- Any person claiming refund of any duty and interest, if any paid on such dutyi. paid by him in pursuance of an order of assessment;
or
ii. borne by him, may make an application for refund of
such duty and interest, if any paid on such duty to the
Assistant Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Customs------------------.]
A simple perusal of aforesaid provisions by a person
of common prudence leads firmly to conclude that provisions of Section 27 apply to refund of duty and interest,
if any paid on such duty. Security Deposit by its very
nomenclature is something different; it is a guarantee
prescribed under Para 3.3 of Chapter 5 of CBEC Manual to cover risk of short levy if any that may be noticed
while finalizing the imports. If duty is paid correctly; it
has to be released to the depositor. To appreciate still
better, i quote a simple example below that has been
part of our experience.
When PET bottles were not there in the market,
mother used to send his responsible child to the nearest shop for getting Coca Cola/Pepsi/Limca bottles to
serve the guests at home. The shopkeepers used to give
required number of bottles on payment of price per
bottle and in addition, he retained predetermined
amount per bottle as deposit against return of empty
bottles. As soon as, the family returned all bottles, security amount was returned in full. If there was any
short delivery, he deducted amount against that bottle
and returned the balance of Security Deposit. Thus conEMPOWERING THE FREIGHT FORWARDER

dition of refund of security amount was return of empty bottles. On the same analogy, 2 % Security Deposit
needs to be refunded as soon as Department on finalization of the Project Imports realizes that importer has
paid duty correctly and there is no short levy or short
payment.
The learning point is that our common prudent experience in day to day life coupled with strict reading of
the legal provisions helps in arriving at a correct decision
in accordance with law without wasting of time.
Another important learning point is that because of
incorrectly stretching the legal provisions in the instant
case, importer will get his release of Security Deposit
after a period of more than 8 years and Department will
not be bound to pay him any interest for delay in release/
refund of Security Deposit as provisions of Section 27 A
apply to delay in refund of duty only. Consequently, he
suffers on account of:A.interest loss for 8 years;
B.cost incurred in preparing appeal before two authorities and engaging counsel for appearance before authorities;
C. time and own manpower deployed by the importer
to contest the case; and
D.anxiety and uncertainty.
Importer must have incurred cost equal to the amount
of refund sought. Seeking refund was his compulsion as
his auditors and shareholders would have raised serious
objections for not applying for release of Security Deposit; otherwise, looking to the difficult, complicated,
costly, endless exercise, he might have abandoned the
right of seeking refund.
What is gain for the Department? There is no gain.
a.It loses the case;
b.It wastes time of appellate forums;
c.It incurs cost in defending an order which was wrong
ab initio;
d. t causes pain to the people for whom administration
I
is set up; and
e.More importantly, it loses credibility and by no stretch
of imagination the decision of the Deputy Commissioner or Commissioner (Appeal) was in the interest of
revenue. It was against the public interest. Taxation
instead of becoming an accelerating factor or precursor in economic growth proves a retarding factor or
inhibitor in economic growth.
However, somewhere tax payers can see ray of hope
also. On the above subject, JNCH, premier Customs
House of the country, in 2010 realized the subject matter being dealt with in a mechanical, routine manner to
the determent of trade and came out with a Public Notice No 88/2010 dated 8.9.2010 issued by the Commissioner Imports; the operational part reads as below:
[Subject: Refund of cash security deposit paid for registration of contract
2. At present after finalization of project imports and
cancellation of Bond, importers are filing refund claim
with CRC-I in Performa Part A along with requisite docEMPOWERING THE FREIGHT FORWARDER

uments related to project imports. After scrutiny of
documents, the Order in Original is passed sanctioning
the refund of security deposit after pre auditing wherever warranted. Thereafter, Refund Order is prepared
after defacing the concerned documents and file is forwarded to the CAO, JNCH for final disbursement of the
sanctioned amount through RTGS account.
3. To further streamline the procedure and for trade
facilitation, matter has been reviewed and it has been
decided that no refund claim is required to be filed with
CRC-I and the entire process of refund of security deposit shall be processed by the concerned Group (GroupVI) itself. The Group shall pass a sanctioning order after
the pre audit wherever warranted and then send the
Refund order to the CAO after defacing the security
deposit challan. The CAO, thereafter, shall prepare the
cheque and forward to the Bank for further transfer of
the same to the party’s RTGS account. ]
It can be noticed that as per Para 2, practice was to
treat refund of Security Deposit as refund under section
27 of the Customs Act necessitating passing of Order in
Original but on review, it was decided to treat it differently, different than refund of duty and interest. The
responsibility to refund/release Security Deposit was
given to the concerned Group who on finalization of the
imports will prepare a Refund Order and send to the
CAO for making payment. Such release of security can
take place within one month of finalization of imports.
No adjudication or Order in Original is required and importer has not to wait for years to seek release of security deposit. Perhaps, Minister can keep his hope alive in
such Public Notices/orders issued by his officers. He and
his top management should identify, appreciate and
encourage such efforts in an appropriate manner so as
to develop the desired culture.
And lastly, developing the desired culture is not easy.
On 04. 01. 2013, TIOL ran a story “CBEC and Government determined to kill Small Assesses”. The story reveals
that justice is largely delivered at CESTAT stage only. Field
officers empowered to adjudicate cases in a quasi judicial
manner by following the principle of natural justice in
accordance with settled principles of jurisprudence do
not respect the Board Circulars and Supreme Court
judgements; rake up issues settled long back; harass
assesses under the authority of Board’s instructions leading to closure of factories.
The foregoing story leads to conclude that Minister’s
visionary statement; “Taxation should be a Precursor to
Economic Growth” is only a wish”. And they say,” if
wishes were horses, beggars would have been the riders”. Merely telling the probationers will not help; they
will go by the prevailing dominant culture in the field.
Both CBEC and Minister need to work closely to convert
the Visionary Statement into a Policy and Action Plan
Instrument. Centre for Excellence under CBEC may be
considered to gear up to meet such challenges.

[Author is former Chief Commissioner of Customs and comments are
welcome and can be mailed at kuldiprbhargava@gmail.com]


9

FEATURE
RESEARCH

THE USE OF
SOCIAL MEDIA BY
LOGISTICS AND
SUPPLY CHAIN
ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract
Three years ago social media began to lightly knock
on our marketing doors. Today, the door is left dangling,
hanging from its hinges. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,
Google+ have influenced marketing faster than any
other media since the invention of the Internet. Social
networking has been adopted at a lightning pace by
consumers, first taking hold of college students and then
swiftly making its way across the world. Today, it is said
that if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s
third largest. In the last decade, marketing companies
have never seen a change as vast and swift as the effect
social media have had in the way companies communicate with the consumers. In an expert’s opinion those
marketers who have embraced all of these new channels
will prove to be the “last man standing” when it comes
to reaching potential customers. The majority of the
world’s leading brands were quick to recognize this new
channel as a faster, more effective, and significantly less
expensive way of interacting with buyers.
This paper focuses on why most of the Logistics and
Supply Chain Organizations refrain from using Social
media as an effective marketing tool and suggests a
roadmap for such organizations to tap the opportunities
and develop strategies for reaping maximum benefits
out of Social media.
Introduction
Social media has played a major role in every walk of
life, be it business or social relationships. It is a phenomenon that people are still trying to figure out how best
to exploit. Let’s face it: For better or for worse, the Facebook generation has revolutionized the way we communicate with each other, stay abreast of news, and
market our goods and services. Those of us who were

10


slow to understand what all the hoopla was about are
now compelled to accept that younger workers and customers spend their lives hard-wired to technological
devices and applications. E-mails and texting come much
more easily to many of them than face-to-face or telephone conversations with other human beings.
Meaning of Social Media
Some might have familiarization with the following
logos but might be unaware what these stand for.
Hence the best way to define social media is to break
it down. Media is an instrument on communication, like
a newspaper or a radio, so social media would be a social
instrument of communication. In Web Terminology, this
media does not only give you the information but also
interacts with you while giving the information. This
interaction could be as simple as allowing you to provide
your comments or vote for an article. Think of regular
media as a single direction communication like a news
paper or television which just allows you to read or watch
the report but does not allow you to provide your
thoughts on the same. Social media is a two - way communication since it allows you to communicate too.
Significance of Social Media
Social Media helps in attracting new customers and to
generate brand awareness. To a certain extent social media also helps to establish preference and demonstrate
credibility especially in case of services which are intangible in nature. It is very hard for customers to know what
to expect. They can’t try out or evaluate the service levels
before they actually commit to buying. Social media allows in providing tangible evidence, such as case studies
or testimonials, so potential clients can evaluate the services through the experience and feedback of previous

customers. Social media also helps to create loyalty to an
existing brand as it has the potential to help create some
real brand advocates. They make it simple for fans/followers/connections to share things they like and now not
only to tell their friends about us but also complete
strangers they would never otherwise encounter.
Why Logistics and Supply Chain organizations
do not use Social Media Extensively?
Generally Logistics and Supply Chain organizations use
Social Media very minimally. It is mainly used for posting
press releases or connecting with customers or vendors.
These organizations mainly use Facebook for external
communication, Twitter for propagation of the company’s brand building and LinkedIn for job postings.
In fact, a lot of companies have even banned these
popular social network sites in their organizations since
according to their management, it has hampered productivity of the employees as well as affected the security of the company information.
However, this is a
matter of debate.
A few other reasons are:
‘Social’ creates a
wrong impression:
As per many supply chain experts,
the word ‘Social’
creates an informal
impression. As a
result, they view
“social media” as
a medium to socialize rather than
business. For example, Facebook’s
status prompt —
“What’s on your
mind?” — is as generic as you can get, and it reinforces
the image of social media as a tool to socialize, not to
get work done.
Getting people change the way they work: With new
technology comes the tedious task of training and most
importantly convincing them to change. How many
people react when confronted with new technologies
and processes. Being creatures of habit, getting to
change is not easy, especially with the belief that this
way of doing things is better (easier and faster) than the
new way being proposed.
No time or desire to access yet another information
system. To paraphrase what is regularly heard: “I barely
have enough time in the day to get through my emails
and voicemails; how do you expect me to use yet another system to keep track of discussions and status
updates?” Simply put, social media is viewed as more
work.

But such companies need to look at the successes of
the other companies. A survey conducted by McKinsey
in 2010, 2/3 of the large companies surveyed have increased the use of the social network tools and blogs by
50 % since 2008 and 90% of them have reaped at least
one fruitful business from the use of social media, though
it has been modest.
Opportunities for the Supply Chain
Steve Nicholls, an international speaker and Social media strategist has pointed out 4 main business opportunities for Supply Chain organizations, commencing with
Collaboration.
The supply chain means a set of companies or individuals that work together to create and deliver a product along its many processes from the supplier to the
customer. Social media increases the potential for collaboration vastly for businesses with offices scattered all
across the globe. Social media platforms can serve as a
potential environment to enhance
communication
not only internally
but with other key
industry players.
Companies in the
supply chain can
create their own
communities in order to develop a
more
cohesive
work process, or
participate in external ones as well
in order to find out
more about certain
aspects of supply
chain operations.
A range of useful
online applications
such as invoicing, information management or Web conferencing are at disposal to enhance the productivity.
Next are the benefits of Collective Intelligence.
Problems are bound to happen and social media allows
companies in the supply chain to detect them quickly,
efficiently and find solutions. Useful, user-generated
feedback can be turned into business intelligence for
companies’ own benefit. Discussion boards, surveys, rating systems, recommendation systems and idea platforms can all be used by a company to provide and share
feedback between each other and thus highlight potential problems. This process not only allows participants
to voice their thoughts easily, instantly and from any
geographical point, but enables companies to gather
extremely valuable information to improve operations
and find new ideas.”
The real impact of social media platforms won’t be felt
unless messages sent via them are targeted rather than

11

FEATURE
RESEARCH

broadcasted to everyone. In other words, there is a need
to be able to evaluate the business impact of a piece of
information. Finally a few thoughts about Communications and Communities.
With social media, the supply chain can enhance communication, create communities, improve collaboration
and collect useful information. The key for businesses,
however, is to choose the optimal blend of social media
applications that will answer specific business goals.
Adopting social media to particular business needs will
be the core of a successful social media strategy.
Benefits and Drawbacks of using Social Media
Social Networking guru Tim Richards, also an Operations Manager at States Logistics Services Inc. has suggested the following ways to reap maximum benefits
out of social media:
Create presence on the web by creating a profile.
LinkedIn is most popular choice for most businesses.
Facebook and Plaxo are also widely used. These enable
you to search and join groups and organizations of your
interests and sign up for updates
Read profiles of the leaders in your industry and see
what group discussions they participate in. Take this
unique advantage of social media and do not be shy to
jump in.
Use online surveys
o not follow companies that duplicate media news
D
or keep talking in marketing voices. Follow companies
that provide real solutions through case histories rather
than shameless self-promotion.
Set up a time each day to monitor your social sites.
Use them as a research tool.
Browse candidate profiles and job postings to reach
out to potential candidates. Post for job openings.
Decipher the negative. Discriminate the posts by a
disgruntled ex employee and a true negative analysis.
Examine both - True criticism and positive comments.
Many service providers display a social network link on
their homepage. You can click on the Twitter link to “follow” and start receiving its news and announcements.
Sign up for RSS Feeds. This helps you stay abreast with
current information, news and updates.
Start your own group to frame the discussions about
your concerns.
Most important - Get Customer input. Get info about
what the company is doing right or wrong. Create a blog
and ask customers to post their experiences and suggestions how to improve.
Like everything with this much potential, there are of
course downsides, key drawbacks are listed and discussed below:
Negative reviews: While social media let people share
good things, it also lets them share any negative experiences. While good service helps to dispel stress, customers can quickly turn volatile if something small goes
wrong. Customer service recovery is key, and if one can

12


handle a complaint properly in a public forum they can
turn a negative into a positive by demonstrating professionalism in handling issues.
Time commitment: Another pitfall of social media is
that it is time consuming. It’s important to have a plan,
to schedule what conversations one would like to start
or encourage to engage fans and followers at certain
points and how this links in with other marketing activities. Pushing out content is not the only thing that
needs to be regular to keep people interested and brand
awareness up. Engaging in conversation is even more
important than that. An unanswered post from a customer quickly turns into a demonstration of poor customer service if one forgets to log in for a few days and
it goes unanswered.
Distraction: Social media are also a can of worms and
can be hugely distracting if allowed. One enjoys reading, being interested in what’s going on elsewhere,
what the related industries are doing, what customers
are saying, what other people’s customers are saying.
One can easily run away with on social media and lose
hours browsing one link to the next without noticing
the time. Monitoring the amount of time spent on social media is the key.
Conclusion
It’s too early to demonstrate real return on social media investments. While use of social media is free, the
time it takes to participate effectively is not, and tracking
return is very difficult. Calculating the return on investment isn’t easy, for example, it is difficult to ascertain
whether a customer made the decision to avail services
from a company based only on an advertisement in the
Yellow Pages or because the customer has also read
testimonials and feedback on a social media platform.
Eventually, this whole discussion about “use of social
media by supply chain organisations” is believed to be
irrelevant in five years, if not sooner. The use of social
media technologies to engage with customers and manage supply chain processes will simply become the norm,
just like the Internet and Web became the norm more
than a decade ago.
References
LOG.India - India’s leading Logistics Magazine - Nov 2012 | Vol.
6 | No.3
The Portal - The Journal of International Association of Movers
- Sept-Oct 2011 | Vol. XLIII
Blogs on Logistics ViewPoints by Adrian Gonzalez
nterprise Resilience Management Blog by Stephen F. DeAnE
gelis & Bradd C. Hayes
General Interviews of employees from Tata AutoComp System
Ltd., Pune

Nirav C. Thakker, Director, 24x7 Logistics Private Limited
and also an faculty to IIFF Institute.


FFFAI NEWS

Conquest 2013

T

he Conquest
2013 International Conference on Infrastructure, Logistics and Supply
Chain,
the
fourth edition of
the event, and
the 2nd Northern India Multimodal Logistics Awards
2013 held at the Le Meridien on February 13.
The conference, jointly organised by Exim India and
Assocham, lived up to its gradually built up reputation
of being the definitive avenue for discussion and debate
on all the relevant topics pertaining to the present and
future of the maritime, cargo and logistics industry in
North India. The awards, too, have been gaining in popularity, which was reflected in the increased enthusiasm
and response from the fraternity.
The inaugural session was graced by the top policymaker for all things maritime, the Shipping Secretary,
Mr P. K. Sinha. He made the key revelation that the
government plans to deregulate tariff at the Major Ports
and change the role of the Tariff Authority for Major
Ports (TAMP) so as to attract more private investment.
He also stressed on the need to have an integrated plan
to fill the connectivity gaps in logistics and said that the
government had initiated the process to boost coastal
shipping by augmenting coastal infrastructure, improving
road/rail infrastructure and bringing in private investment. The focus was on facilitating a modal shift from
road, he pointed out.
Numerous other opinions were expressed, impediments highlighted and solutions suggested throughout
the day, at the inaugural session and the four technical
sessions that followed, which will be compiled in the
form of a wishlist and presented to the relevant Ministries
and other authorities.
The inaugural session also had, as guests of honour,
Mr L. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mr Anil K. Gupta, MD, CONCOR, and Mr
S. K. Goel, CMD, India Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd.
Mr Asok Kumar Mohapatra, Former Secretary, Ministry
of Shipping, gave the opening remarks and outlined the
conference theme, while Mr D. S. Rawat, Assocham
Secretary-General, proposed the vote of thanks.
The third technical session focused on Growing importance of Forwarding, Supply Chain and State-of-the-art
Warehousing facilities, and had as participants Mr B. B.
Pattanaik, MD, Central Warehousing Corporation, Mr
Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, Federation of Freight
Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), Mr Arun Sahu,
DG (Systems), Central Board of Excise & Customs, Mr
Anil Arora, MD, M. J. Logistics Services Ltd, and Mr
Harpreet Singh Malhotra, Promoter & MD, Tiger Logistics
(I) Pvt. Ltd.

Conference on “Vision for
Port Lead Development of
Maharashtra”
Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture organized a One Day Conference on “Vision for
Port Lead Development of Maharashtra” on 9th January,
2013 at Hotel Taj Vivanta, Mumbai. Minister of State for
Home Hon’ble Shri Satej Patil, Minister of State for Ports
Hon’ble Shri Bhaskar Jadhav, Mr. L. Radhakrishnan,
Chairman of JNPT, MACCIA President Mr. Ashish Pednekar, Vice President and Convener of the Conference
Mr. Amit Kamat, MACCIA’s Port Committee Chairman
Mr. Atul Kulkarni, MACCIA’s Sr. Vice President Mr. Ramchandra Bhogale were on the dais for the Inauguration
function of this Conference.
MACCIA taken an opportunity to recognize some special efforts taken by the Giant personalities in this sector.
An award is presented to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust
for Contribution to Maharashtra’s Economy. Capt. Deepak Tewari awarded as an Exemplary Shipping Professional and Mr. Shashi Kiran Shetty awarded as a Global
Indian Maritime Personality. These awards were presented at the hands of Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman
of JNPT.
The Conference consisted of two technical sessions and
one panel discussion with the valedictory session at the
end. Mr. S. K. Sharma, Principal Secretary, (Transport &
Excise), Home Department, GOM was the Chairman for
First Technical session on “Government’s Role in facilitating Port Infrastructure Development”. Capt. BVJK Sharma, Mr. H. D. Gujrati, Capt. Gaurav Rana & Mr. Dileep
Bhagwat presented their views on different subjects in
this session. The second technical session on “Value Addition by Non – Major Ports” was chaired by Mr. Niraj
Ambani, Head – Reliance Logistics. Different presentations were made by Mr. Anil Devli, Capt. N. K. Sah, Mr.
Detlef Kaufhold, Mr. Shakeel Kudroli and Mr. Ashok Vaid
in this session. The Panel discussion on Port Development
Vision was led by Former secretary Shipping Mr. M. P.
Pinto with the experts like Capt. J. B. Rohilla, Mr. Raj
Khalid, Mr. Richard Bradshaw, Mr. Xerxes Master and
Ms. Ami Mistry, which was a fruitful one.
The Conference was well attended by participants from
shipping as well as port sector with different stake holders. There was an active participation from Port of Liverpool and Port of Antwerp for the conference.

13

FEATURE

REPORT SUMMARY

Logistics Game Changers –
Report summary
Introduction
A sophisticated logistics sector should constitute the
backbone of a large, mature economy. In this context,
although India’s logistics sector has witnessed increased
investment, evolving regulatory policies, mega infrastructure projects and several other initiatives, there is a need
to significantly accelerate the pace of such developments.
While traversing this road to development, there are
multiple projects and services that are currently either at
the planning or implementation stage. Such developments span across all modes of transportation and logistics services and involve the active participation of all

stakeholders, ranging from logistics service providers and
policy makers to end users and industry think tanks.
KPMG in India’s report titled “Logistics Game Changers – Transforming India’s Logistics Industry” features
analysis on the key developments and opportunities
across various modes of transportation — including road,
rail, air, ports and water, as well as the storage segment
— which could rightly be termed as game changers for
the logistics industry. In this context, KPMG has researched the potential of certain key projects and trends
imperative to realize an efficient, effective, lean and reliable Indian logistics network.

Logistics Game Changers
Game Changers

Trends

Air
Emergence of new
cargo centers

Increasing
participation of
service providers

14

While the metros have led the
initial charge, opportunities in the
air cargo sector now extend to
tier-II cities, which constitute the
majority of the country’s population. Against a CAGR of 10.5
percent at metro (tier-I) hubs
between 2006 and 2011 —
when volumes increased from 1.3
MMT to 2.1 MMT — the tier-II
(non- metro) hubs witnessed
increased growth of 14.5 percent
during the same period, with
volumes increasing from 0.13
MMT to 0.26 MMT.
From a relative perspective,
Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut
appear to be favorable for
freight-forwarding companies;
Pune, Nagpur, Guwahati and
other cities seem to be inclined
toward 3PL service providers.
Ahmedabad is equally attractive
for both classes of services, or a
step ahead, for larger companies
that provide a much wider spectrum of logistics offerings.


Game Changers

Trends

Improved air cargo
infrastructure at
airports

Heightened focus on developing
cargo terminals and related infrastructure has driven initiatives in
recent times. Investment in airport infrastructure has grown
substantially over the last FiveYear plan, with Twelfth Five-Year
Plan (2012–17) outlining investments worth INR675 billion, an
increase of 86 percent over the
Eleventh Plan allocation.

Ports
Maritime Agenda
2010–2020

Under this program, the GoI
plans to invest INR2,870 billion in
generating total port capacity of
3,200 MMT and cater to expected cargo traffic of 2,500 MMT by
the end of 2020. It intends to
encourage private investment in
both major and non-major ports
and bring port performance at
par with international standards.

Non-major ports

Between 2007–08 and 2011–12,
cargo traffic at non-major ports
increased at a CAGR of 13 percent over a CAGR of 2 percent at
major ports; its share increased
from 28 percent to 39 percent,
clocking 338 MMT in total traffic
versus 560 MMT at major ports.
Growth of traffic at non-major
ports over the past few years has
been primarily led by the development of ports in Gujarat, mainly the Mundra, Pipavav and Hazira ports.


Game Changers

Trends

Game Changers

Trends

Containerization

The EXIM container market in
India has grown at a CAGR of 12
percent in the past five years, as
compared to the 8–10 percent
growth that other commodities
such as POL, Iron ore and coal
experienced during the same
period. At 51 percent, the containerization level in India continue to fall short of that in developed countries, which have
achieved significant levels of
70–80 percent.

Evolution of trucking
community

East coast ports

With their contribution to India’s
total trade expected to increase
from 23 percent in 2010 to 34
percent in 2014, east coast’s
ports are expected to significantly
drive growth in the ports sector.
GoI plans to create additional
port capacity of 900 MMT and
invest INR1,126 billion to boost
cargo-handling capacity at ports
along the east coast. Non-major
ports are expected to contribute
57 percent of total investments in
east-coast ports and 46 percent
to total capacity added in eastcoast ports.

The existing Indian road freight
transport industry is highly fragmented, with 70–75 percent of
truck owners operating a maximum of five trucks each, while
operators owning more than 20
trucks constitute about 9–11
percent of the ownership pie; the
remaining share of 15–20 percent
belongs to operators owning
6–20 trucks. This disaggregated
ownership has resulted in fierce
competition amongst operators
resulting in truck owners resorting to overloading to recover
investments.

Rail
Dedicated Freight
Corridors

The project envisages the construction of two corridors, one
each on the west and east routes,
spanning a total length of about
3,300 km. Freight via the DFC is
expected to increase from 140
MMT in 2016–17 to 182 MMT in
2021–22 at a CAGR of 5.4 percent. Container traffic, which is
likely to be an important constituent of total traffic on the Western
DFC, is expected to grow from
3.8 million TEUs in 2016–17 to
5.3 million TEUs in 2021–22.

Warehousing
Emergence of modern The demand for industrial warewarehousing formats housing space is estimated to
have grown from around 391
million sq. ft. in 2010 to 476
million sq. ft. in 2013, at a CAGR
of 6.8 percent. The share of modern warehousing is anticipated to
grow from 15 percent (62 million
sq. ft.) in 2010 to 30 percent
(178 million sq. ft.) by 2015. The
highest growth is expected from
engineering goods, and IT, electronics and telecommunications
sectors, estimated to grow at
CAGRs of about 8.6 and 8.2
percent, respectively, during
2010–13.
Free-trade
warehousing zones

Roads
Development of
National Highways
(NH)

NH constitutes about 2 percent of
total road network and accounts
for more than 40 percent of total
road freight. During the first eight
Five-Year plans, the total length of
the developed NH stood at
11,930 km; in contrast, over the
last three plans developed NH
stood at 43,050 km — almost 3.6
times in length in 0.4 times the
time period. A comparison of the
Twelfth Plan versus Eleventh plan
suggests a 3.6-fold increment in
proposed construction and upgrades of the NH.


While the full potential of FTWZs
in the Indian context is still at a
premature stage and remains
largely unexplored, the concept
has been time-tested across multiple geographies with significant
success. As a concept, FTWZs
offers significant value-addition
opportunities to multiple industries by virtue of being deemed
foreign territory.

Water
Inland waterways

Growing at 7.2 percent over the
past five years, IWT cargo traffic
was estimated at 79 MMT in
2011–12. India falls short in the
share of IWT at 0.5 percent as
compared to China at 8.7 percent, the US at 8.3 percent and
Europe at 7 percent. The development of the Indian IWT landscape holds immense potential
due to its characteristic advantages over other modes of transportation, especially for bulk
movement


15

FEATURE

REPORT SUMMARY
Coastal shipping

Coastal shipping is an important
component in the development
of domestic industry and trade
due to its environment-friendly,
cost-effective and fuel-efficient
services. In 2011–12, coastal
cargo constituted 17 percent of
total cargo at Indian ports and
increased at a nominal CAGR of
4.5 percent to 160 MMT in
2011–12 over the past five years.
In 2011–12, coastal traffic at
major ports accounted for 70
percent of total coastal cargo
traffic and 18–20 percent of the
total cargo handled at major
ports. Coastal traffic at nonmajor ports comprised 14 percent of total cargo handled for
the same period.

Recommendations and next steps
At a time when awareness around specific initiatives
is widely recognized, the objective is to capture distinct
aspects that could potentially revolutionize each segment. That said, the collective evolution of India’s logistics industry can only be realized through uniform progress across segments. For India’s logistics sector to fulfill
its role in supporting the country’s rise as a complex,
multi-layer and mature economy in future decades, the
following recommendations should be considered to
develop a universal roadmap for the industry:
• Create appropriate policy changes per mode of transportation (road, rail, water and air), increasing investment
in the various modes of transportation and opening up
capacity, especially for rail and waterways.
• Harmonize and streamline processes across government bodies that have a role to play in the logistics sector, thereby reducing stoppages and touch points of
cargo movements, as well as increasing the speed with
which goods are transported within, into and out of the
country.
• Engineer the overlap of cargo networks, so that intersections of modes of transport are close to the produc-

tion centers of bulk, industrial, consumer goods and farm
produce.
• Set benchmarks and standards for the industry,
thereby driving the uniformity of warehouses, storage
and transportation equipment
• Channel the movement of commodities to suitable
modes of transportation. Divert the transportation of
bulk commodities from road to increasingly appropriate
modes such as rail and waterways, thereby freeing up
capacity for consumer goods and also reducing the risk
of accidents.
• Decongest airports and seaports, shifting cargoclearance activities away from expensive real estate to
inland or port or airport locations.
• Establish safety, health and environment (SHE) related standards centrally to facilitate uniformity across
industry sub sectors and companies while increasing
safety and limiting the adverse environmental effects of
the sector on society.
Conclusion
The objective of the Logistics Game Changers report
is to identify critical initiatives and measures that are
likely to serve as prerequisites to growth across six individual segments of the Indian logistics landscape. Rather than focusing on the real and perceived shortcomings
of the India’s logistics landscape, the report aims to highlight the need to bridge various gaps that prevail in each
segment of the industry, thus posing as hurdles along
its growth curve.
The various game changers identified in the report do
not symbolize the desired end state of logistics in India;
rather, they represent a few of the many initiatives that
must be implemented if India’s economic potential over
this decade is to be fulfilled. The report highlights potential game changers spanning marquee infrastructure
initiatives such as the DFC project, National Highway
development program and the Maritime Agenda. Additionally, it intends to highlight various legacy trends
such as fragmented trucking and unorganized warehousing landscape, which need to evolve rapidly.

- Prahlad Tanwar, KPMG

Members quotes
I have received a hand book (It should be called “hands” book, as only two
hands together can pick it up), along with a calendar, newsletter and a very
well worded Greetings card.
It would be no exaggeration to say, that you have been doing exemplary
work as the Chairman of FFFAI. I can well imagine the amount of time that
you must be devoting to the Federation’s work. My congratulations.
Arvind Parikh – Former President FIATA & Advisor FFFAI

16



FFFAI NEWS
Coimbatore Steamer Agents &
Customs House Agents Association
1.Coimbatore CHA Association celebrated the annual
function with family get-together on
2.Tade Felicitation Seminar at Coimbatore -an initiative
by FFFAI -FICCI -SACHAA.
Seminar was conducted on the Trade felicitation in
association with FICCI , SACHAA ,and FFFAI .Sri Shashank Priya ,Prof WTO and Anil K Sinha Senior Technical Director NIC made presentation. Sri. V.S.Krishnan
Chief Commissioner addressed as the key note speaker for the event and Sri A.K.Reghunath addressed the
gathering ..
Another initiative taken by FFFAI -FICCI -SACHAA in
association & support of British High Commission.
In this Shri Anil.K.Sinha ,Technical Director DGFT , Dr.
Shashank Priya ,Professor ,WTO ,Chief Commissioner
& Commissioner were present Also Mr. V.S.Pradeep
,Vice Chairman ,FFFAI showed hispresence for the
event.
Mr.Rajesh, President ,SACHAA offered felicitation
and thanked Sri Manab Manjumdar ,Asst General Secretary ,FICCI who put real effort to make this Seminar
a grand success.FICCI representative Sri Balakrishnan
also spoke on FICCI -FFFAI-SACHAA- initiative and the
need for Organising more if such Trade felicitation
Seminars in future.
Many othe industrialists,Textile manufaturer’s, Steamer agents and Custom House Agents participated and
took active participation in the interactive session.
Association also organised training session for CHA
Members on SEMINAR for FORM - G Examination for
the Members staff . The Superintendent of Customs
Shri Venkateswaran, was the GUEST LECTURE.

Cochin Customs House Agents
Association

DR.K.N.RAGHAVAN CUSTOMS COMMISSIONER, COCHIN ADDRESS AND
MR. S.D. CHAND, MR. V.S. PRADEEP

SEMINAR on Customs Valuation/Capacity building-An
initiative by FFFAI-CCHAA.
A seminar on Customs Valuation/Capacity building
was organised on dt.11.01.2013 at Conference Hall
of CCHAA ,Cochin. Shri. S.D. Chand, Dy. Commissioner of Customs at Directorate General of Valuation,
Mumbai and International Trainer accredited by the
World Customs Organisation rendered a seminar “Customs Valuation”.
Dr.K.N.Raghavan Customs Commissioner, Cochin
was invited to be the chief guest A large participants
was observed at the session from the fraternity.
Mr.V.S.Pradeep, Vice Chairman, FFFAI and President
CCHAA, presided the welcome address and Mr.Bruce
Thadathil Hon.Sec CCHAA proposed vote of thanks.
Session on “Export- Import Regulations, Customs
Formalities, Export Promotion and Incentive Schemes”an
initiative by FIEO -FFFAI -CCHAA.
A session on “Export- Import Regulations, Customs
Formalities, Export Promotion and Incentive Schemes”
was conducted on 22.01.2013 at Central Hall of
CCHAA, Cochin.
Sri V.S.Pradeep ,Vice Chairman ,FFFAI and President
CCHAA in his welcome addressed the gathering. Shri.
Debashish Paul, Appraiser, Cochin Customs delivered
a speech on Customs Formalities.
Shri. Gopalakrishnan, PRO, JDGFT Kochi, spoke on
Export, Import regulations and Incentive schemes followed by question/answer and interaction session.
Shri. Vijaykumar, Chapter Head, FIEO Kerala explained
about the various services provided by Federation of
Indian Export Organistaion. Sri Bruce Thadathil ,Hon
Sec.CCHAA proposed vote of thanks.



17

FEATURE

FFFAI GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBR ATION

T

FFFAI Office bearers with Hon‘ble Guest of Golden Jubilee event.

Mr. Praveen Thipsey “International Grandmaster“ being awarded

Inspector of Police, Mr. Kishore Kumar Keshav Shinde, Nominee for
Galantry award being awarded

Mr. Ramesh Mahale – Senior Police Inspector, recipient of President
Gold Medal being awarded

FFFAI awarded “ Hall of Fame” mention to Mr. Arvind Parekh

18


he Federation Of Freight Forwarders Associations In
India (FFFAI) celebrated Golden Jubilee on 2nd December 2012.
During an elegant function held at Trident Hotel, Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai, Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Chairman, FFFAI welcoming the guests and invitees
shared the vision for the future. In his welcome address
said “Golden Jubilee is a great time to look back and
celebrate what one has achieved”. In his concluding
remarks he expressed confidence about the industry by
mentioning, “We desire to excel our past performance
and expand our horizons. Looking ahead, I believe the
best is yet to come”.
On the occasion, FFFAI Member’s Handbook & FFFAI
NEWS, In-house Magazine of FFFAI were released. The
members hand book is a collector’s item, and will be
distributed to members free of cost.
Guest Of Honour, Mr. Diwakar Gupta - Managing
Director, State Bank of India & Chairman FFFAI, Mr Shantanu Bhadkamkar Launched the FFFAI-SBI Co-Branded
ATM Imprest Card, a first of its kind in India. The first
cards were presented to Chairman FFFAI, Mr Shantanu
Bhadkamkar, Mr. Sailesh Bhatia, Convener, Sea Freight
Council-FFFAI & Mr. Sarfaraz Khan, Convener - Banking
& Insurance Sub-Committee. The unique feature of this
card is that the FFFAI Member Company gets control of
disbursement of cash to the staff, the workload & responsibility of the Company’s cashier is taken over by the
Bank’s ATM & staff in turn has convenience of drawing
cash from the closest ATM.
FFFAI recognised people from different walks of life,
who had made the nation proud as a part of corporate
social responsibility on this occasion:

FFFAI Handbook release (LtoR) Mr. Shankar Shinde, Mr. C.S. Prasad,
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Mr. Diwakar Gupta,
Mr. Amit Kamat, Mr. Sailesh Bhatia)

FFFAI awarded “ HALL OF FAME “ mention to Mr. Tushar Jani


FFFAI honoured, Mr. Praveen Thipsay, “INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTER” & recipient of “ARJUNA AWARD”.
Mrs. Bahgyashree Thipsay was also honoured for their
achievements in chess. Mrs. Bhagyashree Thipsay, INTERNATIONAL WOMAN MASTER, is also recipient of
PADMASHREE & ARJUNA AWARD.
FFFAI honoured Inspector of Police, Mr. Kishore Kumar
Keshav Shinde for his act of bravery, presence of mind
& strong will power he displayed on the night of
26/11/2008, to protect life and property for which he
recommended for ‘PRESIDENTS POLICE MEDAL FOR
GALLANTRY’. Mr. Ramesh Mahale was honoured for this
thorough and flawless investigation in the “26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack Case”. Shri. Ramesh Mahale is recipient
of Director General of Police Medal for Unblemished
Service for 15 consecutive years & President’s Police
Medal for Meritorious Service.
Mr Arvind Parikh, Past President & Advisor, FFFAI was
bestowed with mention in Hall Of Fame for being the
first Asian Forwarder to become a President of FIATA
and leading Indian Forwarder to be International.
Mr. Tushar Jani, Convener Of Sub-Committee on Visioning was bestowed with mention in Hall Of Fame for
being the first CHA to acquire Cargo Aircrafts.
Mr. Shashikiran Shetty, a longstanding member and
supporter of FFFAI events, was honoured for being the
first CHA-Forwarder to have global presence, with offices in 68 countries in the world & agency network in
rest of the world.
Mr. Naval Mehta, Advisor –FFFAI was honoured being
a founder member of FFFAI.
FFFAI recognized contribution of Member Associations
to the Federation; each association was personally felicitated by presenting Golden Jubilee Plaque.

FFFAI’s Women Wings

FFFAI Youth Wing with advisors

Release of FFFAI, SBI co-branded Imprest card by hands of
Mr. Diwakar Gupta.

FFFAI News release - Second Issue

FFFAI- IIFF sign MOU with centre of Education Ahmedabad,
Mumbai, Cochin, Chennai, MET- Nasik

FFFAI awarded “ HALL OF FAME “ mention to Mr. Shashi Kiran Shetty

FFFAI awarded “ Hall of FAME “ mention to Mr. Naval Mehta,
Founder of FFFAI



19

FEATURE

FFFAI GOLDEN JUBILEE

Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, Chairman, JNPT Port being welcome and
felicitated

Mr. Diwakar Gupta, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer,
SBI, Guest of Honour being welcome and felicitated

Mr. C.S. Prasad , Chief Commissioner of Customs , Nhava Sheva address
the audience at FFFAI Golden Jubilee event

Mr. Pankaj Shah , Convenor ISO 9001, hands over FFFAI ISO
certification award to FFFAI Chairman

FFFAI Golden Jubilee event

20


Indian Institute Of Freight Forwarders (IIFF), signed
Memorandum Of Understanding with the following
Centers of Education: Ahmedabad Custom House
Agents Association, Bombay Custom House Agents
Association, Chennai Custom House Agents Association, Cochin Custom House Agents Association &
Mumbai Education Trust ( Bhujbal Knowledge City )
Nasik. for conducting FIATA - Diploma Course in Freight
Forwarding.
Addressing the function, Mr. Diwakar Gupta, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of State Bank of
India shared that it has been a matter of immense and
pleasure working with the Federation to solve the requirements with the advanced technology.
Guest Of Honour, Mr. C. S. Prasad, Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone II said, ‘Custom House
Agent and Customs are partners, both play an important
role for the growth of trade’.
Addressing the function, Chief Guest, Mr. L Radhakrishnan said, “More standardisation of procedures
with adoption of advanced technology and coordination
between Port, Customs, CHAs and other stakeholders,
we the service providers will be able to deliver quality
services”.
Mr. Amit kamat, honorary secretary proposed a lucid
vote of thanks.
The function was followed by a musical performance
& dinner. Members & guests including members of FFFAI,
Customs Department, Port Trusts, Shipping Companies,
Airlines, CFS Operators & Trade attended the function.
Earlier in the morning, Golden Jubilee Series Lecture
Sessions held for members of FFFAI & host association.
The first interactive session on KYC & Protection Of CHA
was moderated by Mr. K. R. Bhargava, former Chief Commissioner Of Customs. Mr. Shankar Shinde – Honorary
Treasurer – FFFAI introduced the session, Mr. Kartik Pancholi – President ACHAA highlighted key issues, and Mr.
George Joseph, President – BCHAAA summed up the
session. In the second session Mr. Deepak Ghaisas made
a thought provoking speech on Disruptive Innovations &
Growth Strategy while Mr. Hetan Patel delivered an excellent presentation FDI funding for the industry.
FFFAI Youth Wing founded for youth emancipation,
was launched by Mr. K.R.Bhargava, former Chief Commissioner Of Customs on the eve of the Golden Jubilee,
on 1st December 2012. The Youth Wing has 35 members from all across the country below 30 years from
CHA to be lead by Mr. Vaibhav Vora – Convenor and
Rishi Tiwari – Co-Convenor
FEDERATION OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS’ ASSOCIATIONS IN INDIA (FFFAI) is the apex body of 24 Custom
House Agents Associations and Sole Representative of
more than 3500 Custom House Agents and Freight Forwarders in India who are engaged in freight forwarding,
shipping and logistics, controlling 90% of India’s logistics
trade employing more than a lakh people.
On 2nd December, 1962, former Union Minister of
Finance Late Shri Morarjee Desai founded the Federation

Of Customs Clearing Agents Associations Of India; now,
Federation Of Freight Forwarders Associations’ In India.
Activities undertaken In The Golden Jubilee Year: Numerous activities and new initiatives were taken up in
the Golden Jubilee Year by FFFAI:
FFFAI launched Golden Jubilee Celebrations Lecture
Series. Amongst the speakers were Mr. S.K. Rahman,
Additional Commissioner of Customs on ICEGATE; Honorable Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
graced as Chief Guest; presentation on MSME Registration and Credit Rating by Mr. Mukesh Singh of M/s.
Haribhakti SME Transformation & Support Solutions Pvt.
Ltd.; presentation on Global Economy by Mr. R. Venkatesh; Mr. C. Rajindran, Commissioner of Customs; Mr.
Anand Deshpande, M.D. Persistent Systems Ltd, shared
his success story and entrepreneurial vision, explaining
how in each phase of growth, the entrepreneurs should
change their business and themselves; Mr. Sankalp Bhattacharya of KPMG, State of the Industry; Mr. S. D. Chand,
Dy. Commissioner of Customs, President Gold Medalist
and the only WCO Accredited Trainer in India made an
excellent presentation on Valuation.
Ace shooter & Arjuna Awards awardee, Smt. Anjali
Bhagwat, the former world number one & one of the
greatest Indian women athletes of all time launched
`Women’s Wing` of FFFAI.
Maritime Forum comprising of stake holders such as
FFFAI, AMTOI, INSA, FEDSAI, CAI & CSLA was constituted to bring all stake holders in the maritime fraternity on a common platform.
FFFAI News, the quarterly in-house newsletter of FFFAI
was launched during the Golden Jubilee celebration.
Coastal Shipping & IWT Council was Constituted For
Promoting Green Initiatives
In the newly launched CSR Initiatives, FFFAI recognised
the achievements of and the contributions made to the
nation the Defence Forces, Police Department, Customs
Department, and Sports Personnel by Felicitating the
Achievers: Smt. Anjali Bhagwat, professional shooter &
Arjuna Award Awardee; Subhedar major Vijay Kumar,
Sport Shooter, Silver medalist in London Olympics; Padma Bhushan Shri Chandrakant Borde, former Cricket
Captain; Shri Surendra Chavan, Mountaineer: Scaled the
Mount Everest Summit in 1998 from the North Side; Shri
Raj Khalid, Sport Shooter: Raj Khalid is a former national champion, he is well known to the industry as India
Representative of Port of Antwerp; Col. Sadanand B.
Salunke, Vir Chakra (VrC); Col. Gautam Khot, Vir Chakra
(VrC); and Mr. S. D. Chand, Dy. Commissioner of Customs, President Gold Medalist and the only WCO Accredited Trainer in India.
During the Golden Jubilee Year, FFFAI adopted ‘Empowering The Freight Forwarder’ as the tag line to
strengthen the brand equity of the organization. The
‘FFFAI Certificate of Competence By Experience’ has been
instituted to recognise the proficiency of experienced
Members.


FFFAI Chairman along with advisors at 50th year cake cutting ceremony

FFFAI Celebrates 60th Birthday of Mr.V.S.Pradeep, Vice Chairman, FFFAI.

FFFAI Celebrates 60th Birthday of Mr. R. Radhakrishnan, Advisor and
Former Chairman FFFAI

FFFAI celebrates 60th Birthday of Mr. K.V.Krishna Kumar, EC member
FFFAI and Vice President of Vizag

FFFAI celebrates Wedding Anniversary of Mr.& Mrs Prakash Khemka



21

PICTORIAL ALBUM

FFFAI HONOURS MEMBER ASSOCIATION

Ahmedabad - Mr. Kartik Pancholi , President ( ACHAA)

Cochin – Mr. V.S. Pradeep, President ( CCHAA)

Aurangabad – Capt. Piyush Sinha , President (ACHAA)

Trivandrum – Mr. K. Suresh Kumar , Vice President ( ACHAT)

Bangalore – Mr.K.N. Shivanna, Vice President ( BCHHA)

Delhi – Mr. Shailendra Jain , Vice President ( DCHAA)

Bombay - Mr George Joseph , President ( BCHAA)

Goa – Mr. Amit Kamat , President ( GCHAA)

Chennai – Mr. A.V Vijaykuma , President ( CCHAA)

Hyderabad – Mr. C.S. Narendra , President ( CHAAH)

22



Kandla & Mundra , Mr Ramesh Bansal , President (KCHAA & MCHAA)

Kolkatta – Mr. Sachi Kmar Koley , President ( CCHAA)

Ludhiana – Mr. Narinder Prabhakar , Hon Secretary ( LCHAA)

Mangalore – Mr. Phillip C C , Former President ( MCHAA)

Nagpur – Mr. Prakash Khemka , President ( NCHAA)

Nasik – Mr. Shankar Shinde , President ( NCHAA)

Pune – Mr. Vinod Sharma , Hon. Secretary (PCHAA)

Tuticorin – Mr. A.R. Ramaraj , (TCHAA)

FFFAI’s 24 Member Associations being honoured on the occassion of Golden Jubilee Year presented Memento In appreciation of their outstanding contribution to the fraternity of Customs House Agents.



23

PICTORIAL ALBUM
FFFAI 6 TH EC MEET

FFFAI office bearers at 6th EC

Youth Wing launched by hands Mr. K.R. Bhargava – former Chief
Commissioner of Customs , Nhava Sheva

Mr. K.R. Bhargava , former chief Commissioner of Customs . Nhava
Sheva being presented Memento at Golden Jubilee

FFFAI’s EC House

Guest at FFFAI Golden Jubilee Celebration

FFFAI’s EC House

FFFAI’s dinner party
EC Meet

FFFAI Music entertainment

24


FFFAI Music entertainment


Mr S Ramesh being presented FFFAI handbook by Mr Prakash
Khemka, President Nagpur CHA Assn. alongwith Mr. Sudhir
Agarwal, Mr. Ulhas Mohile

S L Meena, Commisisoner of Customs ( Valuation)

Congratulation to Mr. Samir Shah for being awarded as the best trainer

Prof. Suneel Kelkar MET sign MOU with IIFF

Cochin MOU

Bombay MOU

Richard Tsai, David Mac ,CSCP & CILP being presented by Shantanu
Bhadkamkar and Shankar Shinde
Ahmedabad MOU

FFFAI’s dinner party


MoU with chennai


25

INTERVIEW
FFFAI - CHAIRMAN

SHANTANU BHADKAMKAR
FFFAI CHAIRMAN

Interview
with
Mr. Shantanu
Bhadkamkar
How do you feel on receiving this award of
WCO – certificate of Merit ?
It’s a prestigious Award, hence I surely feel very proud
and happy about it. Such Awards create a greater sense
of responsibility to the fraternity we belong to and serve
through the platform of FFFAI, above all I am extremely
grateful to the Members of the Executive Committee of
FFFAI, who have nominated me unanimously for this
award by sending a recommendation to CBEC. I am
also grateful to CBEC for the same. The greatest satisfaction is, I have been Awarded the certificate as representative of FFFAI in the Golden Jubilee year.
How important is IFCBA role in WCO?
IFCBA plays a very important role in WCO. As an
observer in the Permanent Technical Committee of the
WCO, IFCBA represents the private sector perspective in
this important intergovernmental
organisation. The Secretary
It’s our
General of IFCBA presently chairs
mission in
the PSCG (Private Sector
FFFAI to make
Consultative Group). Also as a
logistics as a
managing director of IFCBA I had
career of first
an opportuinity to make a
choice. If
presentation to the Permanent
dream is
Technical Council of WCO - Brussel
something
on Facilitation of SME Sector &
that doesn’t
WCO Economic Competitiveness
let you sleep,
package, for the first time such an
this is my
important role was entrusted to
dream
the private sector

26


Having taken so may positions and contributing
towards social aspects, What keeps you
inspired and motivated to work for the
Federation?
All good organisations, particularly an apex Federation
like FFFAI, have social responsibility, we can’t limit our
role to serving only our own fraternity. FFFAI is a great
platform to serve not just our fraternity but also one of
the most important segment of the economy ie EXIM
Trade. It’s such a great platform but it’s real strength is
only now being realised. As much as you do to serve
better, you realise there’s so much more to be done. The
greatest inspiration comes from the wholehearted support I got, not just from the members but also from all
other stakeholders including the government.
What attracted you to this career and how you
foresee the future for the industry?
I inherited family business, which is how I joined this
industry. However, it’s our mission in FFFAI to make logistics as a career of first choice. If dream is something
that doesn’t let you sleep, this is my dream.
What are the highlights of your career?
True highlight of my career is yet to be, it’s our vision
to lead FFFAI towards a Self Regulating Organisation
(SRO). This is a long drawn process but career in the
federation doesn’t end with serving as Chairman, I will
not just take the initial steps for it but will work towards
it, until this goal is realised. With relaunch of IIFF-FIATA
Diploma, and steps we have taken for proliferation of

our training initiatives by tyit’s our vision to
ing up with reputed institutes
lead FFFAI
and initiatives for thought
towards a Self
leadership, we will build a
Regulating
strong case for SRO.
Organisation
CHA towards SRO , how do
(SRO). This is a
you think this would help
long drawn
customs, Industry and CHA’s
process but
Customs department has
career in the
many roles and responsibilifederation
ties, CHALR being only one of
doesn’t end with
it. FFFAI has an impeccable
serving as
reputation. FFFAI being an
Chairman, I will
Apex organisation and sole
not just take the
representative of CHAs at nainitial steps for it
tional and international level,
but will work
can work in collaboration with
towards it, until
the customs and other authis goal is
thorities for ensuring high
realised
professional and ethical standards in the industry in a focused manner. Both the Customs and the trade will be biggest beneficiaries of highly
professional services of self regulated CHAs with self
regulation implemented by the apex body of CHAs.
CHAs have rendered yeomen service to the international trade. With self regulation and high standards, we
will instil both sense of security and highest level of professional pride for the profession.

notwithstanding hurdles and problems almost in every
single case.
How do you view the state of the industry
today? What change would you like to see in
your industry ?
‘Who Moved My Cheese’ describes our present situation the best. I have read it some 10 years back.
short movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL0Xg6YTlk&feature=player_embedded is a good
rendition of this book. We need to define and reinvent
ourselves today, we don’t have grace time to wait and
watch.
10. What is best Indian practice in Global
context ?
Our ability to adapt to huge diversity along with our
ability to deal with adversity, complexity and uncertainty is exemplary. This is not exactly best practice as is
commonly understood but these are our best strengths
and values. It is these strengths, we should harness and
need to leverage for setting best practices models suited
for customer service in global context.

If you had not joined the Logistics sector,
which profession would you have been?
I joined family business as I was the only successor,
otherwise my personal choice was to pursue a career of
research in theoretical physics.

Generally speaking, what , in you opinion, has
been mankind’s best invention?
Now that social media has become such a huge part
of our everyday life, everyone has the potential to be
considered influential, regardless of their standing in the
‘real world’. Social media will influence and change our
lifestyle beyond comprehension. Along with Internet,
social media is the most powerful invention. But at a
more fundamental level, it is language and wheel which
has primarily brought us to this level.

So what fascinates you about the freight
forwarding industry?
The most fascinating aspect of this industry is it’s international character. Besides we deal with wide range
of issues of regulatory and legal nature, physical logistics,
planning and management. Above all, unlike many
other professions which are only advisory in nature, we
deliver solutions, optimised solutions. We ensure that
cargo reaches the destination safely, securely, following
all the laws and do so in fastest possible time frame,

Which famous person would you like to have meet?
“Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood
walked upon this Earth.” - Albert Einstein on Mahatma
Gandhi
The more you learn about Chanakya (traditionally identified as Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta), Chatrapati Shivaji
Maharaj and Mahatma Gandhi, you realise that we Indians, let alone the rest of the world, are yet to realise
their multifaceted manifold greatness.

I congratulate you and the entire team of Office Bearers of FFFAI for the success of Golden
Jubilee Celebrations.
I acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the FFFAI Hand Book which depicts the
achievements of FFFAI and the names & photographs of various dignitaries.
You have rightly said that a dream is a thing which does not allow one to sleep. You have
toiled very hard to make this Golden Jubilee Celebration a great success. This success shows
that you must have spent many sleepless nights to fulfil this dream of yours. I have no words
to express my heartfelt feelings for you.
S L SHARMA, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SKYWAYS GROUP



27

FEATURE

HANDBOOK PRESENTATION

O
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar presenting FFFAI Handbook to HE Ms.
Cathy Berx - Governor of the province of Antwerp

n the occasion of Golden Jubilee of Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Association of India (FFFAI)
I present to you Members Handbook of FFFAI.
It has been an earnest desire of our Chairman, Shri Shantanu Bhadkamkar to present to
the members of FFFAI a handbook that contains
members’ database and other useful information
for members.
This handbook is a handy reference book for
members, which contains besides contact details
of all members of FFFAI, useful information for
members such contact details of ministries, commissionerates of customs, port trusts, certification
& inspection agencies, embassies & consulates,
trade missions as well as tools for daily use and
reference such as INCOTERMS, Container sizes
and specifications, Air container sizes, Conver-

Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar & Mr. Sailesh Bhatia presenting
Memento to Mr Marc Van Peel, Chairman, Port of Antwerp and Vice
Mayor, City of Antwerp

Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar & Mr. Sarfaraz Khan presenting
Memento to Mr Luc Arnouts , Commercial Director , Port of Antwerp

Smt Jagjit Pavadia, Chief Commissioner of C.Excise & Customs, Nagpur
being presented FFFAI handbook by Mr Prakash Khemka, President
Nagpur CHA Assn. Mr. Sudhir Agarwal and Mr. Ulhas Mohile

Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar & Mr. Shankar Shinde presenting FFFAI
Handbook to Mr Eddy Bruyninckx

Shri C. S. Prasad Chief Commisioner of Customs Mumbai Zone II

Mr Ashutosh Baranwal Commissioner of Customs Mumbai Zone 1

Mr.Monoj Krishna, Commissioner Customs Nhava Sheva, Exports

28



sion tables, Weights and Measures. We have also
included for the information of members History
of FFFAI, Vision and Mission of FFFAI and pictures
of various events and conventions, right from the
inception of FFFAI.
This book will be presented to all members of
FFAI, Union Ministries, Government Bodies, National & International Trade Associations, Embassies & Consulates, Department of Customs & Port
Trust and other bodies.
We shall also supplement this handbook with
CD, with a search option, which will be provided
to all members in due course.
We trust that members will appreciate this hand
book as much as we enjoyed compiling it.

Ms Praveen Mahajan , Chairperson, CBEC being presented FFFAI
Handbook by Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar,Chairman, and Mr. Shankar
Shinde, Treasurer FFFAI

Sailesh Bhatia
Convenor-Members Directory Sub-Committee

Smt. Shobha L. Chary, Member (Personnel & Vigilance)

Mr. P.K. Sinha , Secretary Shipping being presented by Mr Amit
Kamat ,Hon Secretary and Mr. Sailesh Bhatia

Shri K.C.Gupta - Commissioner Of Customs ( Appeals) Mumbai Zone–II

Mr. Yogendra Garg, Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai, Exports


Smt.Sandhya Baliga, Member, (Customs, Legal & Judicial)

Ms Seema Arora, Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) Mumbai

Mr. A.K. Pandey , Comissioner of Customs and C.Excise , Nashik being
presented by Mr. Shankar Shinde , President of Nasik CHA Assn.


29

FEATURE

IIFF INUAGUR ATED

IIFF- FIATA DIPLOMA COURSE INUAGURATED
Mr. C.S. Prasad – Chief Commissioner of Customs Mumbai Zone II was the chief guest.
“EXIM trade is of global international character, your
services have to be of global standards as such need to
enhance knowledge and skill . Remember that a fish is
not judged by its ability to climb the tree, so never compare yourself with other profession, the CHA’s role is no
longer of just filing documents and have to get in deep
study for compliance of Customs Laws and procedures
from International Perspective as large number of laws
have been implemented.” said Mr. C.S. Prasad - Chief
Commissioner of Customs, zone II, JNCH while inaugurating the IIFF-FIATA diploma course.
The Inaugural Function of Indian Institute of Freight
Forwarders (IIFF) – An education wing of Federation of
Freight Forwarders Association In India ( FFFAI) was
launched on 12th January 2013, by hands of Mr C. S.
Prasad – Chief Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai Zone
II, as Chief Guest , Mr. Naresh Parekh, Managing Director of Parekh Group, was the Guest of Honour , and was
well attended and honoured with presence of Mr. Anil
Sonawane – GM CONCOR , Mr. Keyur Gandhi, President
of Freight Brokers Association , Mr. Nambiar , Capt. Ram
Iyer, representative from Haropa- Le Havre port, and
Members of FFFAI and the students.
“Mr. Mayur contractor created the syllabus and reading material for this course. We have FIATA accreditation.
This course has been upgraded”. It is with the FFFAI
Members, Industry support through which we could
achieve to start the course. Shankar Shinde and Pankaj
Shah should be given the credits for restarting it . Success
is in the number of students joining the course and IIFF
has achieved it. 5 Member Associations of FFFAI have
entered into a MoU, i.e. Mumbai, Ahmedabad , Chennai

Mr. Shankar Shinde – President Of Iiff Is Addressing The House

30


, Cochin , MET – Nasik with IIFF as a Centre of Education
(CoE) . We urge all 24 CHA members associations of
FFFAI to start this course.” Said Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar,- Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders Association In India and Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders.
“Our aim is to proliferate and impart knowledge, education in Logistics , we will move to various cities and
rural place on Pan India to have the tie up and sign memorandum with various education colleges and Institute to
introduce this courses.” added the chairman FFFAI.
“When my colleagues called me today, I couldn’t resist
the cause. This course will help you to realize the implications of your actions in this business even before you
take the action.” expressed Shri Naresh Parekh, Managing Director, Parekh Group. He further stated that he
will always like to promote the education in Industry
which will produce quality results.
“IIFF was started by Late. Shri Mayur Contractor. It
was his dream, and successfully conducted 4 courses.
Every person in FFFAI needs to know the laws of business. Federation is doing this to provide knowledge
about it throughout the country. I wish FFFAI grows. All
the Customs House Agents and we are here because
we have passion to serve the community. He urge students to take advantage of this passion.” said Mr. R.
Radhakrishnan, an advisor of FFFAI. He further added
that it was an important moment to see that the institute
establish is functioning and will look forward to achieve
the objectives.
“ It’s need of an hour to educate and impart knowledge an training in logistics , He stated we observe 80%
cargo movement by rail in developed countries whereas

(L To R ): Capt. Ram, Mr. Sailesh Bhatia, Mr. Panka Shah, Mr.Shankar Shinde,
Mr. Naresh Parikh, Mr.R.Radhakrishnan, Mr. C.S.Prasad,
Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamkar, Mr. Tej M. Contractor, Mr.Anil Sonawane,
Mr. Omprakash Agrawal, Mr.Nailesh Gandhi, Mr. Sarfaraz Khan


in India we have only 20% cargo moving by rail which
need more concentration to improve logistics dwell time
and transaction cost, said Mr. Anil Sonawane - General
Manager, CONCOR ,Indian Railway being Guest Faculty
of the course. He also addressed a lecture on Multimodal Transport.
The Indian Institute of Freight Forwarders (IIFF) was
established in the year 2005 by the Federation of Freight
Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) with an objective
to fulfil skill gap in the industry need for trained and
ready to work professionals. It aims to develop skills-sets
of aspiring students to match global standards in the
India freight forwarding industry. IIFF has set its goal to
vocationalize the available talent pool and channel them
to the industry. IIFF- FIATA International Diploma program is a highly sought after Vocational Training program accredited by FIATA,. Globally 72 countries have
validated their Vocational Training programmes. Informed Mr. Shankar Shinde- President of Indian institute
of Freight Forwarders.
IIFF will strive to have such Logistics programmes proliferated on Pan India Basis. This Institute aims to reach
various cities and rural education institutes to create
importance and impart knowledge on logistics to fill the
required talent pool as there is the demand of employments from logistics. We are committed to provide quality training programme with the experienced faculty
members from Industry and academic background.
The institute have scientifically designed the IIFF- FIATA
Diploma Course to cover every aspect of logistics which
would provide thorough education and training to our
students to co-op up for future challenge.
After the function Chief Commissioner of Customs
Zone II and Mr. Naresh Parekh held personal interaction
and guidance to students. Mr. Pankaj Shah – Hon Secretary proposed vote of thanks to all the dignitaries on
dais and the participants.


GUEST AND STUDENTS DURING THE LAUNCH OF IIFF-FIATA DIPLOMA COURSE

MR. C.S.PRASAD, CHIEF COMMISSIONER, NHAVA SHEVA ADDRESSING THE STUDENTS

MR. SHANTANU BHADKAMKAR PRESENTING MEMENTO TO
MR. C.S.PRASAD, CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, NHAVA SHEVA



31

FEATURE
INTERVIEW

Interview with Mr.Kartik Pancholi – President Ahmedabad

Customs House Agents Association (ACHAA)
How do you feel while leading the ACHAA
Association in its Silver Jubilee?
It is really a great opportunity for me to lead as a President of
ACHAA in this milestone achievement year when ACHAA is
celebrating “Silver Jubilee Year”, I am thankful to all ACHAA
members and entire fraternity of EXIM TRADE for extending me
such an opportunity as well as keeping faith in me. I also congratulate and extend my heartiest greetings to all my members.
What are the achievement of ACHAA?
We at ACHAA have represented and earned goodwill with
Customs and Government Regulatory Departments and also
Private bodies. We have been able to take the core issues on
behalf of our fraternity and have represented them at the right
forum. We have trained our field staff through conducting
various seminars for imparting knowledge to enhance their
skills and have also seen that they are respected and recognised
at all levels of CHA business. Therefore, we dedicate our Silver
Jubilee Year for them and we have focused and performed all
our programmes and activities keeping them in front to their
individual growth and benefit.
What is the message you would like to give to our
CHA fraternity?
After investing 2 decades in the CHA industry, I personally believe that it is high time for all of us to get united. Though
we being a very crucial link of Logistic Industry we are listed
last to get credit, honour and recognition this situation needs
to be improved.
CHA’s always act as a bridge between Importer or Exporter
by way of providing them assistance related to work with Shipping/Airlines, Customs , DGFT , Bank , Insurance , Transportation
, Packaging etc.. which non of the stake holders in the Logistic
Industry can perform, though we being a very crucial link of
Logistic Industry we are ignored and listed last to get credit,
honour and recognition this situation needs to be improved. It
is high time now that we should get united and we should strive
for a common objective to improve our fraternity recognition
and get a respectable status like other status holders in service
industry like Chartered Accountants, Lawyers. Let’s give respect
and take respect. This can be done with organised effort and
co-operation of our parent organisation FFFAI.
How do you foresee the future of Customs House Agents?
Analysing the present situation of logistic industry and
also taking into consideration approach and attitude of some
Trade authorities, I personally feel that the future of CHA
Fraternity looks to be very dark and difficult. Unless, unity
stands up and we mark our presence and improve our importance with continual training and up-gradation of knowledge pertaining to Law and Rights and thereby to achieve
error free performance and establish feasible and ethical
working code of conduct and Practices.
How do you think that the Leaders in Association
can play an important role and responsibility
towards Members?
As we all know that “ Association “ is a place where like
minded people gather to satisfy their common needs and

32


KARTIK PANCHOLI – PRESIDENT,
AHMEDABAD CUSTOMS HOUSE AGENTS ASSOCIATION

interest and when a person is appointed as a leader of any
such Association then it is by default a duty and responsibility of that person to satisfy the common needs and interest
of members of that Association. Let us remember that trade
will follow the foot prints of a Leader so Leader has a big
responsibility on his shoulder, for the development and
growth of the fraternity which he represents.
How would you like to contribute towards service
to your Members , and what are your achievements?
As a volunteer of Association I would always prefer to be in
touch with my members to know about any difficulty in day
to day work for clearance in customs as well as with custodian
and airlines, shipping lines and for that matter we started monthly meetings with all stake holders including Customs
on regular basis so that we can address all possible issues to
make workings more smooth for our members.
Ahmedabad being one of the leading ICD in volume
handling how would you expect and advise other
ICD ‘s to grow , what are the issues for ICD growths.
It is required for all Authorities to understand that time Is
changing. Now as a service provider the important challenge
for them is to achieve customer satisfaction ensuring timely
commitment of service to trade and make available all services
at a very reasonable cost matrix this ingredients helps in making a successful Organisation. Approach and Attitude towards
all segments, points covering ICD users requirements and how
they can accept their suggestions, how good they can address
and reform the same with an acceptance of reality will help
them to sustain and make them further Grow and Prosper.
What help do you seek from government towards
development of ICD’s
It is required to introduce accountability towards
growth of that region with time frame in all Government
departments related to Logistic Industry will help to get
boost in growth.



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