Budget 2026-27: Integrated Customs platform on cards in digitisation push, rollout targeted for 2027

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The Finance Ministry is planning a major digital overhaul of Customs operations by integrating the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), the Risk Management System (RMS), and the Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) into a single nationwide platform, government sources were cited as saying, according to a report by the Business Standard.

ICEGATE currently supports e-filing and online payments for traders, RMS manages automated risk-based checks, and ICES handles backend assessments and clearance procedures across Customs locations.

At present, these three systems run on different software frameworks and do not fully communicate with one another, leading to delays and repetitive paperwork.

The proposed integration is aimed at easing business processes and improving India’s global trade ranking.

An allocation for the initiative is expected in the 2026–27 Union Budget.

According to a government official, an expression of interest (EoI) for the mega project was expected to be issued shortly. After that, a detailed request for proposal (RFP) will be issued to shortlisted interested parties to evaluate their technical and financial proposals, and then the final contract will be awarded, Business Standard reported.

Large global and domestic technology companies are expected to participate in the bidding.

The proposed platform is targeted for rollout on April 1, 2027, making it one of the largest sovereign information-technology (IT) transformation projects in indirect tax administration, said the government official.

To encourage innovation and wider participation, the final bidder may be required to include startups in backend operations, bringing startups into a core government digital infrastructure project for the first time.

Once operational, the unified platform is expected to remove data silos between Customs systems, enable faster and more automated clearances, strengthen risk-based targeting, and reduce litigation arising from system-level mismatches, significantly altering in how imports and exports are processed across ports.

“Under the proposed overhaul, assessment, refunds and goods testing are planned to be made completely faceless, while dispute resolution will be fully digitised, compared with the largely manual process currently in place,” another official said.

The reforms aim to reduce the average clearance time from about two days to 24 hours. The government is working towards a stage where importers will not have to physically visit Customs offices, the second official added.

At an event last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman described Customs as her “next big cleaning-up assignment”.

Suresh Nair, partner at EY, said the minister’s planned overhaul would be the most consequential trade-facilitation reform in ten years.

“By fully integrating RMS with the upgraded ICES and ICEGATE 2.0 platforms, we will replace manual, discretion heavy processes with true end-to-end automation,” he said, Business Standard reported.