The idea
Bengaluru is full of companies that import every week and find customs opaque: hardware startups, direct-to-consumer brands, electronics and aerospace suppliers. They want three things from a broker. A landed cost before they place the order. Their documents checked before anything is filed. And to know where their cargo is without having to call anyone.
The desk would find those companies, bring them to Green Channel, and give them those three things through software. Green Channel's people and licence do the customs work, as they have since 2000. The software takes the typing, checking and chasing off their hands.
Why now
Bengaluru airport handled a record 532,000 tonnes of cargo in 2025–26, 6% more than the year before. BIAL
Customs is merging ICEGATE, RMS and ICES into one AI-enabled Customs Integrated System, announced in Budget 2026 and due within two years. Every broker's filing setup will have to change. Finance Bill 2026
Abroad, software for customs brokers has become serious business: in July 2026 Altana, valued at $1 billion, bought Cervo, which drafts customs entries from documents. But in January 2026 US Customs ruled that AI classification is customs business, so a licensed broker has to make the decision. The software is the easy part. The licence, and the people who sign, are the scarce part. That's what Green Channel has. Altana CBP ruling
One import, and who does what
Green Channel decides, signs and files. The software prepares and keeps track. The desk brings the client and keeps them informed.
What a client would see
Pick a product and a price. This is the kind of quote the software would draft, and a broker would confirm. Try a cheap dress.
| Value of the goods | |
| Basic customs duty | |
| Social welfare surcharge10% of the duty | |
| IGST | |
| Clearance and delivery | |
| Landed cost | |
| Per piece |
Change the rates
Rates are prefilled from the customs tariff as of November 2026 (chapter 61 and heading 7117) and the September 2025 GST rates. They're for illustration: a broker confirms the exact tariff line, origin and value for every consignment.
How it would be set up
- The desk is part of Green Channel. Clients authorise Green Channel, and every filing is in Green Channel's name.
- Vikash and Nitish join as Green Channel employees on customs records, with ID cards for the BLR terminal.
- Revenue the desk brings in is shared under a written agreement, agreed before the first client signs.
- We build the software at our own cost and own it. Green Channel uses it on the desk.
That keeps the licence exactly where it is: with Green Channel.
What each side brings
Green Channel
- A customs broker's licence and 26 years of clearing
- Branches in Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Mundra and Vizag
- Bonded warehousing, trucking, and people at the terminal
- The judgement that only comes from doing this work
Vikash and Nitish
- Software and AI systems built for real businesses. Haloweave, Vikash's software company, grew to $100k in annual recurring revenue over the past year, working with US clients
- Experience selling to technology companies
- Two people working the desk, and full attention on making it work
The first 90 days
- Weeks 1–2: learn the deskSit with the BLR team, with ID cards. Go through three months of jobs to see where the hours go. No changes yet.
- Weeks 3–6: build on real workThe quote and document-check tools, used by Green Channel's staff on live jobs. Their feedback decides what stays.
- Weeks 7–12: bring new clientsThe first new importers from Bengaluru's startups and manufacturers, clearing through Green Channel.
At 90 days we sit down with the numbers: how fast quotes go out, how many errors were caught before filing, how many new clients signed, and what revenue the desk added. Then we decide together what comes next.
What we're asking for
- Two weeks on the BLR desk, with ID cards, to learn before we build anything.
- Agreement in principle on the setup above, so the terms are written down before any client signs.
- A look at three months of BLR jobs, with client names removed.
What we'd like to learn from you
- What does a typical air import job pay, and how much of the work is the filing itself versus everything around it?
- Where do your people spend hours that feel wasted?
- What software do you file with today, and what's the plan when the Customs Integrated System arrives?
- Which clients would you most like more of?
Where this could go
If the software works on our desk, other brokers will want it before the 2027 switch. And for clients who ask, the desk could source goods directly from Thailand and Vietnam, which we've begun to explore.