The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Customs House enters 100th year

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Friday, Jan 22, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Customs House enters 100th year

V. Raghavendra

Despite fall in revenue, overall economic growth may boost KCH

Kakinada: With a humble beginning in the year 1910, the Kakinada Customs House (KCH) has come a long way in garnering revenue from export-import trade through the anchorage and deep water ports here.

Just into the 100th year of its operations, KCH is poised for a phenomenal growth in the near future. It’s highest ever realisation of Rs. 825 crore was recorded in 2006-07.

The figure would surpass Rs. 1,000 crore had the customs duty on edible oils not been scrapped by the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Edible oils account for a substantial quantity of all the commodities imported here. The ban on export of rice has also made a big dent in the revenues.

Tracing the history of KCH, Assistant Commissioner (Division-I) R.V.L. Narasimha Rao told The Hindu that the chief item of export in the early days was groundnut and imports were petrol and mineral oils. The scenario had changed with a spurt in trade since 1952 when iron ore and tobacco became the major items of export.

The trade again shifted to rice bran oil, other extraction oils, rice, palmyra fiber products etc.

It (KCH) has a long history of EXIM trade with Europe, the United States, Sir Lanka and Southeast Asian countries.

The export-import activity had consisted of a few commodities (available records suggest that EXIM operations started in Kakinada as early as 1805).

During the 1930s, the major imports were kerosene from America, cane sugar from Java, yellow metal sheets from Germany and coconut oil from Ceylon while exports included groundnut kernels to Europe and Castor seeds and oil to America and England.

Exports

Today, the major constituents of Customs revenue from imports are edible oils, phosphoric and sulphuric acids, wood pulp, coal and fertilizers.

On the export front, wheat, sugar, iron ore, cement clinker etc. yield the highest revenues. The lowest in last seven years was Rs. 602 crore in 2008-09.

The reduction in customs duty on major items and a fall of nearly 50 per cent in prices of chemicals resulted in less revenue though the volumes (of cargo) dispatched to and from Kakinada port went up. Scrapping of customs duty on edible oils alone entailed a loss of Rs. 400 to 500 crore.

The overall situation is however expected to improve due to higher economic growth on the anvil.

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