Celebi Delhi Reaches Out To Kolkata

A bonded trucking initiative linking Kolkata with Delhi has been undertaken by the Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management. While it will boost air cargo volumes at Delhi, it will help Kolkata and the North-east to link to the world

- Tirthankar Ghosh

The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has created an environment that is helping air cargo. Airports, particularly the major international ones like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, are innovating to boost cargo volumes. Bengaluru airport, for example, started the bonded trucking service last year. The airport in collaboration with its cargo partners – Menzies Aviation Bobba Bangalore (MABB) and Air India SATS Airport Services (AISATS) – started a dedicated bonded trucking service from Tirupur, 320 km away, to the airport as part of the Knitwork Connect BLR project. It was initiated with the aim to connect Tirupur, also known as the knitting capital of India, to Bengaluru. The move has helped exporters to send their consignments by road in an efficient and safe manner.

Delhi airport too has not been far behind. It started bonded trucking services from the industrial city of Kanpur (around 8 hours and 520-odd km by road). Now in a fresh move, one of its cargo divisions – Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India – has planned to start a trucking service from Kolkata (22 hrs and 1,500 km away). Kolkata airport has a capacity to handle around 275 tonnes but with only a handful of international flights, barely one-third is shipped out daily. Incidentally, Kolkata is also the gateway for the North-eastern states that have hitherto remained isolated because of the lack of connectivity. Fruits and vegetables from the North-eastern states, in fact, are wasted simply because there are not enough flights.