Till date, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) is the only other auto manufacturer to have used the sea route, having shipped 12,805 vehicles along the western coast from Chennnai/Ennore to Kandla/Gujarat Pipavav ports in the west. The last shipment was in April this year, prior to the implementation of the GST. Anand V, senior general manager, sales logistics at HMIL, told FE the GST has complicated issues. He said, “It is still unclear as to what is the GST that needs to be charged when cars are shipped by a coastal route when the first mile and last mile operations are by road. In this form of multi-modal transportation, where two modes (road/rail) are involved, the present GST law is subjective and left to interpretation of consultants.”

Nailesh Gandhi, president, Association of Multimodal Transport Operators of India (AMTOI), said, “To remove the complexity, the shipping ministry needs to take up the issue with the GST committee and support the trade with one single GST rate on an end-to-end basis. The services of a third-party logistics service provider who provides comprehensive service needs to be facilitated by the government. These services cannot be seen in isolation or silos and necessitates uniformity in charges to help the service provider to use a single bill for end-to-end services.”