Darjeeling: The Centre in an attempt to prevent smuggling across the international border and step up vigilance on cargo vehicles on Thursday launched the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) process. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman returning from her three-day Sikkim visit launched the process at the Indo-Nepal border near Panitanki.
From Siliguri, the FM proceeded by road to the border where she inaugurated the system at Land Customs Station (LCS) Nagrakata in the presence of senior officials from the Immigration and Customs Departments as well as SSB officials, who informed her about the role of customs in using technology to conduct trade in a cost-effective and timely manner with neighbouring countries.
"This EDI process has been introduced mainly for goods vehicles at the border. It will reduce the harassment of drivers. Basically, the document-related complications at the border crossing will be reduced if EDI is introduced. Besides, there will be a lot of convenience in surveillance. The system will be launched on the Bhutan and Bangladesh borders also," the FM said.
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Around 2,500 to 3,000 cargo vehicles pass through the India-Nepal border every day with similar numbers observed along the border with Bhutan as well. Around eight to ten thousand vehicles cross the Cooch Behar, Phulbari and Hilly borders daily. Panitanki border was established in 1978 for trade with Nepal, with third countries also using the border as a transit route. The LCS saw a significant increase (21 per cent) in trade vehicle number as well as a similar climb in overall trade volume in 2022-23, compared to last year, a tweet from Niramala Sitharaman stated.
