MUMBAI: Bengaluru airport on Friday announced the opening of a 10,000 sq ft warehousing facility in its complex, which is expected to reduce supply chain costs and facilitate trade in and around the Karnataka capital city.
Claimed as the country's first on-airport public bonded warehouse, the new facility will be operated by Cargo Service Centre (CSC) under the jurisdiction of the City Commissionerate of Bengaluru Customs, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said in a release.
The public bonded warehouse will help re-export of goods, long-term storage of bonded cargo, assist in partial clearances and allow value-added services such as labelling, packing and repacking services, it said.
Due to the presence of information technology and biotechnology companies, multinational companies and retail brands, Bengaluru handles a large volume of imports, BIAL said.
"Our vision is to make the Bengaluru airport a cargo hub, equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and cutting-edge technology to deliver efficient operations," said Satyaki Raghunath, chief strategy and development officer, BIAL.
He added that in order to simplify processes and meet customer demands with the help of key stakeholders, including the Bengaluru customs, BIAL has taken this step to set up India's first on-campus public bonded warehouse.
Bengaluru airport offers the largest air cargo terminal in South India with a handling capacity of 5,70,000 MT and an average travel time of nine hours from major manufacturing clusters across the region.
It processed 99,154 MT of cargo in the April-August period of the current financial year, recording a 92 per cent growth in cargo air traffic movements, as per the private airport operator.
The new facility will play a significant role in boosting the economy of the region, by improving trade and connecting markets around the world, it said.
"We are thrilled to partner with BIAL as an operator of the new warehousing facility.
"Public bonded warehouse at Bengaluru airport has tremendous potential to become the cargo hub for South India, and at CSC, we are excited to be part of this transformation," said Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, CSC.
Recently, BIAL announced the implementation of the Air Cargo Community System, a digital solution, to streamline the air logistics supply chain and enable seamless collaboration between all stakeholders for a seamless cargo delivery.