On 21st June 2025, the 11th International Day of Yoga was observed nationwide with participation from over five lakh people, including the Hon’ble Prime Minister, at Visakhapatnam. The theme, “Yoga for One Earth, One Health,” reflected the connection between individual and planetary well-being. The Department of Revenue highlighted widespread participation by CBIC officers across the country. Additionally, during the CBIC Conclave held on 19th-20th June and chaired by the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, key focus areas were discussed, including improving taxpayer services, GST registration simplification, faster refunds, and quicker closure of investigations. The Minister also emphasized reducing customs dwell time and raising awareness on required documentation. The Conclave also saw the release of the 2025 edition of the National Time Release Study (NTRS), which analyses average cargo release times at various points of entry. The NTRS aims to support targeted interventions and improve logistics performance. Another development was the introduction of the ICETAB device by the Union Minister of State for Finance, which enables customs officers to record export cargo examination findings digitally on-site, aiming to reduce transaction time and enhance India’s logistics efficiency. The initiatives align with the broader Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
Weekly newsletter from Chairman, CBIC dated 23rd June, 2025
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
DO No. 25/News Letter/CH(IC)/2025 Dated: 23rd June, 2025
Dear Colleague
The 11th International Day of Yoga was celebrated with great enthusiasm across the nation, with Hon’ble Prime Minister leading the national observance from the serene beachfront of Visakhapatnam, alongside nearly five lakh participants. The theme for this year—”Yoga for One Earth, One Health”—powerfully underscored the deep interconnectedness of human and planetary health, reflecting India’s timeless ethos of “Sarve Santu Niramaya” (May all be free from disease). The Hon’ble Prime Minister aptly remarked, “Yoga leads us on a journey towards oneness’ with the world; it teaches us that we are not isolated individuals but part of nature.” I witnessed, through numerous posts on social media, the enthusiastic participation of our formations in Yoga Day celebrations. I am happy to see that CBIC officers across the country embraced this spirit wholeheartedly.
The Conclave of (Pr.) Chief Commissioners and (Pr.) Directors General of CBIC, chaired by the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, held on 19th-20th June, provided a valuable platform for introspection and impress upon the Government’s priority areas. It was an opportunity to reflect on the Department’s performance across key parameters with the overall objective of trade facilitation. The Hon’ble Finance Minister appreciated CBIC’s standing in CPGRAMS rankings and urged further improvements in taxpayer services, simplification of GST registration, faster processing of refunds, and speedy closure of investigations. She also exhorted the CBIC formations to launch targeted awareness campaigns among taxpayers, trade associations, and industry bodies, regarding the mandatory documentation required for GST registration, particularly those related to the principal place of business. Emphasising the reduction of dwell time in Customs, she called upon officers to align their functioning with improving the ease of doing business. The Conclave concluded with a collective commitment to align CBIC’s functioning with the broader goals of Viksit Bharat @2047, through transparency, efficiency, and empathy in tax administration.
One of the key highlights of the Conclave was the release of the fifth edition of National Time Release Study (NTRS) 2025, which provides a critical analysis of the average time taken for cargo release across India’s ports, airports, and inland depots. The NTRS 2025 reflects CBIC’s continuing efforts to make India’s logistics ecosystem faster and more efficient. It identifies key procedural and infrastructural bottlenecks and provides a data-driven basis for formulating time-bound interventions to reduce cargo clearance times. The report will serve as a valuable tool for benchmarking progress, setting performance targets, and enhancing India’s standing in global logistics rankings. The fifth edition also adopted advanced methodologies to enable stage-wise and process-specific evaluations. The full report is available on CBIC website and I would urge all of you to go through the report to understand the key contributors of reduced timelines along with the reasons for delays in clearance processes.
Another significant milestone was the launch of the ICETAB device for export examination by the Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Finance, aimed at improving examination efficiency in export cargo processing. The ICETAB is a robust digital tool designed to enable Customs officers to record examination findings directly at the site, thereby reducing transaction costs and turnaround times. This initiative is expected to contribute significantly to India’s improvement in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index. It is a step forward in CBIC’s broader goal of harnessing technology for smarter procedures.
Til next week!
Yours sincerely,
(Sanjay Kumar Agarwalj
All Officers and Staff of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes 85 Customs
