India-Nepal to soon start pilot on electronic cargo tracking

NEW DELHI: India and Nepal will soon start a pilot project on electronic tracking of cargo movement between the two countries.

Currently, clearance of cargo is done through physical inspection and it is time-consuming as well as costly for business, an official statement said.

The pilot project will be supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Trade Facilitation Strategic Framework.

"A Memorandum of Intent (MOI) on India-Nepal Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS) pilot run will soon be signed by the Governments of India and Nepal to facilitate movement of traffic-in-transit belonging to Nepal from the port of arrival in India to Nepal," the statement said.

The MOI will include use of ECTS to follow the cargo (containers and full-body trucks) as it moves from port of arrival through India, to the Nepal border.

"ECTS will lead to reduced cost and time as it speeds up cargo clearance at border crossings," it added.

It uses technology such as satellite positioning systems, cellular communications, radio frequency identification, web-based software and others, to ensure the security of cargo and avoid any interference in transit.

ECTS pilots have already been done along the Kolkata- Jaigaon-Phuentsholing route between India and Bhutan, and for inland transshipment in India, the statement said.