Genesis

Owing to its central geographical location, India shares over 15,000 kms long international land border with seven countries in South Asia, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. There are several designated entry and exit points for cross-border movement of persons, goods and vehicles. For several years, inadequate infrastructure at designated border checkpoints has often been one of the major hindrances to regional trade, impeding the movement of both goods and passenger moving in and out of neighbouring countries. Support facilities like warehouses, parking lots, banks, hotels, etc., have been either inadequate or absent. All regulatory and support functions are generally not available in one Complex. Even when located in close proximity, there is no single agency responsible for coordinated functioning of various Government authorities and service providers.

Concerned about the inadequate infrastructure at border checkpoints and the lack of a single coordinating body responsible for facilitating cross-border trade and passenger movement across India’s land borders, the Committee of Secretaries in 2003 recommended setting up of Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) that would house all regulatory agencies in a single sanitized complex and provide complete state of the art infrastructure facilities such as warehouses, examination sheds, parking bays, weighbridges etc. for cross border movement of passengers and goods at designated locations along India’s international border.