Customs commissionerate for Kakinada on the anvil

The proposal to set up a separate customs commissionerate for Kakinada is in the advanced stage and the proposal is pending with the Union Government, according to Mr Chandrahas Mathur, the Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, Visakhapatnam zone.

He was speaking at the centenary celebrations of the Kakinada custom house here in the Cocanada Chamber of Commerce here on Monday. He said there were very few custom houses in the country which had completed 100 years as Kakinada. He said the old documents and other archival material should be preserved for the benefit of the posterity.

He said he had started a customs museum in Goa when he was the commissioner there to preserve the historical material.

Mr Mathur said Kakinada custom house had shown impressive growth this fiscal, with the revenue being Rs. 478 crores (growth of 132 per cent), and the heartening feature was that of the amount Rs 100 crore was due to project imports. “It really shows the economic activity has picked up in the region,” he said.

Ms R. Sakuntala, the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, said she would resolve the issues raised by the trade expeditiously.

Mr D. Surya Rao, Chairman of the Coconada Chamber of Commerce, recounted the history of the custom house and the chamber and spoke about the growth prospects of the region.

On the occasion, the Chief Commissioner honoured five senior shipping agents - Mr D. Surya Rao, the Chamber chairman, Mr A. Kasi Viswanadham, Mr V. Bhaskara Rao, Mr A. Rama Krishna and Mr J.V Subba Rao. Three retired staff members of customs were also felicitated - Mr S.S.N Pantulu, Mr V. Surya Prakasa Rao and Mr George Elisha.