FM Sitharaman Inaugurates EDI Facility, Boosts Trade in Northeastern States

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman virtually inaugurated 10 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) facility at the Land Customs Stations (LCS) of the North Eastern Regions for enhancing ease of doing business and facilitating regional trade from New Delhi on Thursday.

The Union Finance Minister inaugurated 9 EDI facilities at the Land Customs Stations bordering Bangladesh. namely Golakganj and Karimganj Steamer Ghat in Assam; Baghmara, Bholaganj, Borsora, Dawki, Ghasuapara, and Shella Bazar in Meghalaya; Khowaighat in Tripura and Zokhawthar 1LCS  in Mizoram on the Indo- Myanmar border. The linking of these LCSs onto the EDI platform will enable a more secure and seamless



ecosystem for paperless transactions of documents and enable online payments of duty and refund.

Later, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman ceremonially handed over an 1818-made telescope to the Archaeological Survey of India by the Guwahati Customs Division. The colonial era Telescope was intercepted in 2018 near Rangia in Kamrup district.  The said telescope has the inscription " UK East India Company, 1818, '' along with an engraved Logo of a Crown, a Spider and a Scorpion which was confirmed by an expert committee of the ASI Kolkata. It was used for navigational, observational, exploration and warfare purposes by the East India Company.