V O C Port Authority launches direct port entry facility for export containers

V O Chidambaranar Port Authority, the state-owned entity that runs the port located at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, has started the direct port entry (DPE) facility for e-sealed, factory stuffed export cargo containers. Direct port entry streamlines export processes by allowing factory-stuffed, e-sealed export containers to enter the port terminal directly, bypassing the need for prior clearance at Container Freight Stations (CFSs) located nearby. This 24/7 facility significantly reduces wait times and costs, leading to faster export clearance. DPE, along with Direct Port Delivery (DPD), aims to improve efficiency and reduce cargo dwell time at ports.

For providing the facility, V O C Port Authority will charge Rs 135 plus GST for a twenty-foot container and Rs 162 plus GST for more than twenty-foot containers from Custom brokers, the port authority wrote in a 10 April trade notice.In FY25, V O C Port handled 7,95,222 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 6.4 per cent more than the 7,47,363 TEUs handled in the previous year.The port has two container terminals, run separately by Dakshin Bharat Gateway Terminal Pvt Ltd and Tuticorin International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd, with a capacity to handle a combined 1.35 million TEUs.