As a further step in the implementation of the government of India’s trade facilitation agenda, a state-of-art, high-speed, drive-through X-ray scanner for scanning of containerised cargo has been installed at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, Nhava Sheva. Mr Pranab Kumar Das, Special Secretary and Member (Customs), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, inaugurated the facility and dedicated it to the nation on Sunday, December 2, 2018 in the presence of Mr Vivek Johri, Chief Commissioner of Customs, at a function attended by many port users and stakeholders.
Currently, there are two scanners in operation at Nhava Sheva—one fixed and the other mobile—but their capacity is limited due to age. The new scanner has the capacity to scan as many as 100 containers per hour using ‘image separation technology with colour’, because of which its accuracy and targeting are expected to be far superior.
The Indian Ports Association has been assigned the responsibility, by the Ministry of Shipping, to install four new mobile scanners—one at each of the four terminals at Jawaharlal Nehru Port. In addition, one drive-through scanner each, to exclusively handle import and export cargo, respectively, are also planned to be installed in the near future at the BMCT terminal and the JNPT Parking Plaza.
Once in position, the scanners are expected to provide considerable relief to importers and exporters by reducing the time taken for scanning, as well as the number of cases requiring physical examination.
