Govt announces round-the-clock customs clearance at 8 ports

New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) The government today announced aslew of measures, including round-the-clock customs clearanceat eight ports in the country, with the aim of bringing downtransaction costs on exports by Rs 2,100 crore.

"It is expected that implementation of the 23 issues islikely to mitigate transaction costs by approximately Rs 2,100crore," Minister of State for Commerce and IndustryJyotiraditya Scindia said here.

The government expects that a permanent reduction intransaction costs through these initiatives will have along-term positive impact on the competitiveness of India''sexports.

Reducing transaction costs should be an "ongoing task",said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while releasing thereport of a ''Task Force on Transaction Cost in Exports''.

In India, the transaction cost for exporters is around7-8 per cent of the total value of the cargo. This is amongthe highest in the world.

India''s exports rose by 36.4 per cent year-on-year to USD22.5 billion in December, 2010, the highest growth rate in thelast 33 months.

During the April-December period of the current fiscal,the country''s outbound shipments grew by 29.5 per cent to USD164.7 billion from USD 127.1 billion in the same period lastyear.