Importing into India is a sequence in which the carrier, the importer, customs and, for many goods, one or more regulators each do one part. The goods leave the port only when every part is complete. This guide follows a sea or air import from before the order to the warehouse door.
1. Before you order: registrations and policy
IEC and GSTIN. Any commercial import needs an Importer-Exporter Code from DGFT (see the IEC guide). A GSTIN lets you take credit for the IGST paid at import, so make sure the bill of entry carries it.
Import policy. Classify the goods under the 8-digit ITC(HS) code and read the import policy in DGFT’s schedule: Free, Restricted (needs an import authorisation), Prohibited, or STE (canalised through state trading enterprises). Check the policy conditions too; many entries carry them.
Other regulators. Many goods need a clearance from an agency other than customs, which ICEGATE routes through the SWIFT single window:
- food and food ingredients: FSSAI;
- plants, seeds, timber and many farm products: Plant Quarantine (a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting country, and sometimes an import permit);
- animals and animal products: animal quarantine;
- notified electronics, steel, chemicals and consumer goods: BIS quality control orders or compulsory registration;
- drugs, cosmetics and medical devices: CDSCO;
- radio and wireless equipment: WPC approval.
Find out which apply before the goods ship. A missing licence found at the port means storage charges while you apply.
2. Agree terms that match what you can manage
The Incoterm decides who books the freight and who clears customs. Under CIF or CFR the seller books the ocean leg, and you take over at the Indian port: clearance, port charges and the road leg inland are yours. Under FOB or FCA you (or your forwarder) book the main carriage as well. DDP is rarely practical for imports into India, because the foreign seller would have to act as the importer. See Incoterms 2020.
3. Proof of origin, if you want the agreement rate
If India has a trade agreement with the exporting country, the goods may qualify for a lower or zero basic customs duty. To claim it:
- the goods must meet the agreement’s rules of origin;
- the supplier provides a preferential certificate of origin issued in the exporting country;
- under CAROTAR 2020 (the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules), you declare the claim in the bill of entry and must possess the origin information, such as the value addition and the process, and produce it if customs asks.
Customs can verify a claim after clearance and deny the concession, with duty and interest to pay. Ask your supplier for the origin information before you pay for the goods, not after.
4. The carrier files the import manifest
Before arrival, the shipping line or airline files the import general manifest (IGM) under section 30 of the Customs Act. Your bill of entry is matched against the manifest line, so the consignee name and the description on the bill of lading or air waybill must be correct. Fix errors at the origin: amending a manifest in India takes time.
5. File the bill of entry
The bill of entry under section 46 is the import declaration. It is filed electronically on ICEGATE by you or a customs broker licensed under CBLR 2018. There are three kinds:
- home consumption: you pay duty and take the goods;
- warehousing: the goods go into a customs bonded warehouse and duty is deferred;
- ex-bond: clearing goods out of that warehouse later.
The law expects the bill of entry to be filed in advance, before the vessel or aircraft arrives. Late filing attracts charges. Check section 46(3) and the Bill of Entry regulations for the current deadline.
6. Assessment and duty
Customs’ Risk Management System either accepts the declared value and classification or routes the bill for assessment, which in most cases is faceless: the officer assessing it may sit in another city.
Assessable value is the transaction value under the Customs Valuation Rules, 2007, on a CIF basis: cost, plus freight, plus insurance to the Indian port. Where freight or insurance is unknown, the rules deem it (20% of FOB for freight, 1.125% of FOB for insurance).
The duty stack for most goods:
| Levy | Base | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic customs duty (BCD) | Assessable value | Tariff rate from the First Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, or the agreement rate if claimed |
| Social welfare surcharge (SWS) | BCD | 10% of BCD for most goods; some goods are exempt |
| IGST | Assessable value + BCD + SWS | Creditable as input tax credit |
| Compensation cess / AIDC | as notified | Only on specified goods |
Pay the duty online through ICEGATE. Interest runs if you pay late.
7. Examination and out-of-charge
If the bill is selected for examination, the goods are opened at the terminal or CFS in front of your broker, and any samples are drawn for testing. Other agencies (FSSAI, plant quarantine) sample and clear through the single window. Once every clearance is in, customs grants out-of-charge under section 47. The goods are now legally imported.
8. Delivery and the road leg
Collect the delivery order from the shipping line (after paying its charges and returning any container deposit arrangement), pay the terminal or CFS charges, and get the gate pass. The road leg to your warehouse needs an e-way bill where the value exceeds ₹50,000, generated against the bill of entry. Return empty containers within the line’s free days to avoid detention charges.
What slows imports most
- A regulator’s licence or registration discovered at the port.
- Values that do not match between invoice, packing list and bill of lading.
- An FTA claim without the CAROTAR origin information.
- The delivery order held for unpaid charges while free days run out.
- Trucks booked after out-of-charge rather than before, so the cargo waits at the CFS.