BHUBANESWAR: The international cargo operations along with custom clearance facilities commenced at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) here on Friday. Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, who inaugurated the services, said the international cargo operation at the airport has completed three principal routes of exports from Odisha - electronic route, sea route and air route.
Padhi said export facilities on air route would boost production, processing, packing and other allied activities in the sectors like gems, jewellery, costly minerals, fruits, vegetables, marine products, applique works, stone artefacts, handicrafts, manufacturing and food processing. All these would create more employment opportunities in the State.
Principal Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Laxmi Narayan Gupta said the total export from the State in 2015-16 was worth around Rs 20,591 crores.
The export has already crossed Rs 18,300 crores by October 2016 of current fiscal. In the scenario of growing exports from Odisha, resumption of international cargo facility would be an added advantage to the exporters in various sectors.
Padhi said international cargo operation was started at Bhubaneswar airport in 1995 and continued up to 2003 when it was stopped due to unavoidable circumstances. Now, the consignments can directly be dispatched to various countries of the world. However, exporters expressed concern regarding customs clearance, operationalisation of the cold storage facility at the airport, scanning of fish and other marine products instead of opening and repacking for security checks.
Commissioner, Customs, Deepak Arora assured that due care would be taken for early dispatch of the consignments with special attention on the perishable products. The clearance of all perishable commodities would be done within 3 hours at the cargo terminal, he added
Two consignments of marine products and spices were booked at the time of resumption of the facility. BPIA has been growing at an encouraging rate during the last couple of years. The airport operates on a 24-hour basis with connectivity to Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Port Blair, Vizag and Varanasi airports.
The passenger traffic during 2016-17 up to 31st December has grown at the rate of 23.11 percent over 2015-16. The cargo traffic has also grown at 19.10 percent during the same period.
Special Secretary, General Administration and Civil Aviation Ashok Kumar Meena, Secretary Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Bisnhupada Sethi, Secretary Handloom, Textiles and Handicrafts Chithra Arumugam, Regional Executive Director Air Port Authority of India Sanjaya Jain, Director (In-charge) BPIA Port Sri Yudhisthir Sahoo, Director Export Promotion and Marketing BK Das were present.