Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The fourth session of the Marathwada Exporters Forum (MEF), established under the Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture (CMIA), was organised on Saturday. The session aimed to enable direct dialogue between industry stakeholders and government agencies on export–import policies, operational challenges and practical solutions. Senior officials from Customs and CONCOR at ICD Maliwada participated as special invitees.
The session featured detailed guidance from Satish M Dandge, Assistant Commissioner of Customs; Devendra Patil, Superintendent of Customs; and Vaibhav Verma, terminal manager, CONCOR. During the interaction, officials said the approach of Customs and CONCOR towards industry engagement is evolving, with a strong focus on proactive collaboration with exporters to facilitate and enhance export growth.
Through presentations, participants were briefed on the infrastructure at ICD Maliwada, including single-window customs clearance, experienced manpower, 24x7 operations, container availability, railway connectivity, container repair facilities and substantial time and cost savings for industries. It was highlighted that many processes that are time-consuming at ports such as JNPT can be completed more efficiently at ICD Maliwada.
Superintendent Patil said the single-window clearance system, expert manpower and industry-friendly environment significantly reduce clearance timelines. Assistant Commissioner Dandge encouraged exporters to visit ICD Maliwada to understand and benefit from the available facilities.
CONCOR terminal manager Verma shared insights on container availability, rail services, factory-to-factory container movement, cost savings through special tariff structures, credit facilities and future expansion plans of the terminal.
At the beginning of the session, Rushikesh Jaju, head of the Trade Facilitation Cell, CMIA, said the vision conceived a year ago to directly connect industry with ICD has now become a reality. He described this direct engagement between government agencies and industry as a golden opportunity to boost exports from the Marathwada region and said an MEF delegation will soon visit ICD Maliwada.
The session was attended by CMIA honorary secretary Mihir Saundalkar, vice president Atharveshraj Nandawat, Aniket Patil, Ravish Soni, MEF core member Sunil Gadgekar and around 35 MEF members.
