Nadir Godrej conferred AILBIEA lifetime achievement award

Sairaj Iyer| The Dollar Business

The (AILBIEA) All India Liquid Build Importers and Exporters Association’s 15th annual day celebration was a high-octane event. Lifetime achievement for corporate honchos, has become a routine. It is more than mere special, when that corporate czar utilises poetry in his address.

Government officials including ministers, customs officials, Shobha Chary of CBEC and corporate dignitaries like Padma Bhushan Adi Godrej, M.P. Taparia of Supreme Industries, Rupesh Aggarwal of HUL, Sudhir Malhotra of Aegis Logistics Ltd., Himanshu Sanghvi of Overseas Polymers were the dignitaries on the dais. Around 250 delegates participated in the event. AILBIEA used the occasion well to confer a royal-welcome and lifetime achievement award on Nadir Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Agro. While Jayyannt Lapsiaa, President, AILBIEA, and Dr. Rajeev Tandon, Principle Commissioner of Customs, Nhava Sheva General conferred a citation;

Adi Godrej, the elder brother, was requested to garland his younger sibling, in the presence of Nadir’s wife Dr. Rati. Lapsiaa had earlier recited a short poem in an audio-visual, to introduce the achievements of the stalwart. Nadir Burjorji Godrej was referred to as the exalted head of all trades. The MD of Godrej industries and Chairman at Godrej Agro, in Lappsia’s words, is a true embodiment of passion, obsession, commitment, courage and great character.

The younger Godrej, used the occasion well to express his love for poetry. Poetry was his only arsenal in striking upon various aspects of the industry, and at times he resorted to onomatopoeic expressions to strike the right chord with customs and government officials within the gathering.

CBEC UNDER NAJEEB SHAH

Godrej struck an emotional chord, when he averred that CBEC under the guidance of Najeeb Shah has reached far, and superseded geographic conditions.

A line from his poetry, is as follows:“The concept of an AEO ensures a truly steady flow,in warehousing, as you know, far fewer permissions are now-needed,and geographic constraints are superseded;CBEC has gone very far under the guidance of Najeeb Shah”.

In the elaborate poem he elucidates that though the story of Indian customs is not hunky dory, a close working tie with customs officials will provide ways and means for unimpeded growth.

“It is always such a treat, to attend and be us at our annual meet,Where all of us can mutually greet, and ensure the extraordinary feat,of permitting India a steady growth with an unimpeded constant flow,of the vital cargo that we need in order for us to succeed”.

Unlike other corporate events, AILBIEA’s 16th annual festival, underlined the close working relationships between office-holders, bulk cargo industry, customs, government officials and other industry stakeholders at large. Taking cognisance of their efforts it also felicitated professionals from the EXIM trade for their contributions.

DIGITIZATION DRIVING ACCHE DIN

Rajeev Tandon, expressed delight to represent the CBEC at the event. The launch of Single Window of Facilitating Trade (SWIFT), in his words, was a giant step towards facilitating a paperless exim-trade. SWIFT, would serve as an intermediary to between authorizing bodies such as- Animal, plant, wildlife bureau, FSSAI, textiles committee, and drug controllers. “We have advertised this across various sources today. The Swift processing starts simultaneously, helping Exim traders save time and money. It speeds up process of clearances. What happens in days, CBEC visualizes creating that within hours,” he said.

The commissioner highlighted that steps such as doing away with 1% EDD would have a significant impact on the ground level. At Nhava-Sheva, the customs has done away with EPCP licenses, which would help save paper, time and provide a step towards green customs. A series of steps have been taken towards drawback facilitation. According to him, Nhava Sheva paid drawback customs of Rs.500 crore a highest amount in the preceding 12 months.

He further continues, “There is a dynamic board, to facilitate trade, and to make our PM's vision of make in India true. We have initiated e-helplines, Facebook and twitter pages, to address complaints and feedback. We will solve all the grievances. CBEC, is perhaps synonymous with the ease of doing business. To facilitate import export and trade, we have created a common body comprising of all user agencies, logistics suppliers, government agencies, regulators, under one roof. CBEC has taken a nodal responsibility and will take ways and means to improve the style of working, to give an ease of doing business.”