Mumbai airport customs

mehro

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to open a boutique in pakistan of indian dresses and sarees and soon planning to visit (Mumbai)india and i have reserched about indian markets etc so that i can buy dress material and sarees from mumbai but the problem is that will indian customs will allow me 100-200 peices of dress material and sarees?i heared from few people that they wont allow huge quanitity of dress material and sarees so what do u people say?any suggestions?I am a student and dont know much about business and india just thinking to do some business and here in pakistan many people are doing this business so if they can do it why not me?
hope to get a postive reply and looking forward for reply

regards,
mehro

capt_mahajan

I think you are talking about departure India with stuff bought here?

Customs normally do not open your bags. In many years of travelling this has happened to me only once.. and that too, by security, because my suitcase was too light!!

However,

I don't know how bulky your stuff may get. If it is two suitcases or so, may not be a problem. Big cartons etc maybe.

Another factor is of course that you are going to Pakistan.. Customs or others may be more vigilant there.

mairangi_vice

so your suitcase is full of clothes, when they scan it through the xray machine, that is what they will see, as long as there are no bomb or gun looking objects they will not open your suitcase. The only time ive ever had my bag opened was during security checks to get to the gate, never heard of anyone having their check in luggage opened on departure.

Its the Pakistan customs people you should be concerned over...

Nick-H

They do stop people on the way out. In one recent story a guy was stopped for smuggling currency... but he had a lot of it, even had inches of false shoe sole stuffed with it!

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amarshah

Well you should not face a problem but check on the weight of 100-200 odd material/saris... you will need to pay a bit at check-in counter of the airline !!!

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mairangi_vice

well sure, if you have piles of cash/drugs/small children strapped to you, then you are asking for trouble!

Maybe if the OP was planning to wear all 100 saris then there may be an issue!

Nick-H

I think they'd be more interested to find out what she might have hidden in the folds!

But, seriously... when flying from Heathrow to come here in the winter, all the heavy winter clothing, shoes, etc I wear until inside the plane, when it gets transferred to the hand baggage and the sandals get put on.

Noodle

I had to open my hand luggage on the way out of Germany because of a cup (present from my aunt ). But that was Germany, don't know if Mumbai would do that too.

But you should be fine with fabrics. It's the hard things they are looking for.

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AvidTrekker

It is ok to export fabrics from India to anywhere in the World.

One option is crossing back at the Wagah Border .... as rail tickets are cheaper compared to air freight.

Other option is to courier package to Pakistan. Some courier surely will ship to Pakistan.... altho we'll have to find out who.

I don't see any probs in India except for heavy amount of air freight. Have you taken the Pakistan Customs into account?

If you are staying with relatives while in Mumbai, ask them to find out who couriers packages to Pakistan.

Welcome to India and Welcome to Mumbai... may our nations be friends forever

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mehro

thankyou so much for reply and i really appreciate that you guyz are helping me yup capt_mahajan i was talking about departure and i think they normally dont open suitcases but they can see everthing in x-ray machine.I wanted to know that is it allowed to carry bulk quantity of sarees and dress material?one more thing will they charge duty on it and if they will ask for duty then this business wont remain profitable for me cuz here many people
are doing this biz and no one will buy from me at higher rates.I also heared from someone that some people are getting all sarees n stuff via DUBAI so do u guyz have any idea about it?I cant travel by train cuz by air is a better option and here wagha border train does not has AC and it takes long time to reach by train and hmmm courier option is very expensive like i wanted to send few doc's to india and for that i paid like 2000 something.

Looking forward to hear from u guyz,
Thankx and Regards,
mehro

crvlvr

Unless these are personal belongings (and the Indian customs reserve the right to question yuor claim) an export license and clearance will be needed before items can be exported from India.

PS: Aren't clothes cheaper in Pakistan? hmmm..

AvidTrekker

Start with a minimum possible quantity to see if the Indian Customs hassle you. Normally nothing would be amiss, but since you are going to Pakistan, their antenna might be on the alert.

Legally, of course an export certificate is required but i've never heard this being enforced for clothes (stitched or unstitched). You can always claim that they are for "personal use".

Lots of exporters export clothes thru out the Globe via the shipping lines mainly, but info on India to Pakistan clothes exports via air is not commonly heard about. Most famous heard about export item to Pakistan is "paan" (betel leaf) and all those who have been to Pakistan say paan is very expensive there and one gets only half a paan at the paan shops in Pakistan ..... [many travellers say one basket of paan used to pay for the entire travel cost... i don't know the position today]

The clothes thing is something that you will have to work out yourself. Try some shipping lines... Karachi via Dubai is fairly workable.

nycank

mehro, I think you need to do some cost analysis before you invest in 100+ sarees. Your most inexpensive option would be bulf frieght using a courier service rather than pay for extra baggage in a flight.

kumaran

Hi , I assume that mehro would be visiting India and wants to hand carry 100 to 200 sarees . Hand carry is fine .

courier or other modes of shipment are a problem as Made in India articles , even via Dubai , undeclared country of origin is detected at pakistan customs and confisicated ; borne out of experience . so pls make a note .

princemum

Mehro,
You can confidentally carry those many sarees and dress materials from mum to khi, just take care of customs in khi. I am very much aware of this business where pak dresses are brought to india and sold here and having a setting with the indian customs thru a carrier guy to does only this job of bringing luggage to india and vice-versa for a price.