The Central Government?s step to introduce direct port delivery (DPD) to speed up delivery of cargo containers to importers/consignees to check extra cost and time involved in the clearances is expected to impact the business of container freight stations (CFS) near the major ports of Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) and Chennai. The DPD scheme was introduced at the JNPT and Chennai Port, spurred by a World Bank report on ease of doing business.

DPD allows importers/consignees to take delivery of the containers directly from the port terminals and haul them to factories without taking them first to a CFS and from there to factories. An importer is thus assured clearance of cargo in less than 48 hours under DPD as against an average of seven days if routed through a CFS.

A CFS helps in de-congesting a port by shifting containerised cargo and carrying out customs-related activities outside the port area. Due to Customs procedures and space constraints at many of India?s ports, Customs clearance happens at the CFS. JNPT was designed on the CFS model and about 33 CFSs are operating near JNPT.