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How to move oversized or overweight machinery legally on Indian highways and onto a ship: the MoRTH online ODC permit, hydraulic trailer classes, route surveys, lashing and the vessel choice. Rasp International coordinates project moves through vetted heavy haulage, forwarding and customs broker partners across India.
Project cargo is equipment too large, too heavy or too valuable for standard containers: transformers, turbines, boilers, presses and plant modules.
Each move needs a permit, a trailer matched to the load, a surveyed route and a ship that can lift and secure it. Miss one and the cargo waits at the roadside or the quay while penalties run.
Verified as on 24 September 2026 against the MoRTH circular RW/NH-35072/01/2010-S&R(B)PT-2 dated 27 October 2025, GSR 414(E) dated 26 June 2020 and the Project Imports Regulations 1986.
An over dimensional consignment (ODC) is a single indivisible load that exceeds the road dimension limits in Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989. An overweight consignment (OWC) exceeds the permitted weight. Moving either on a National Highway on a modular hydraulic trailer needs online permission from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) through its ODC portal.
The rule that decides everything: the permit covers one declared load, one trailer class and one route. Change any of the three and the move is no longer covered.
Under the 27 October 2025 circular, a trailer found with more than 18 tonnes on an axle row, or with dimensions much larger than declared, is held for 7 days. The applicant pays a fine of twenty times the permit fee and the transporter is barred from the portal for at least a year.
Rasp International does not own trailers or cranes. We brief the heavy haulage and forwarding partners in our network, check the declared dimensions against the drawings and track the permit, route and vessel booking together.
A load becomes ODC when the loaded vehicle would exceed the Rule 93 limits. GSR 414(E) dated 26 June 2020 set the current figures, as summarised by PIB on 1 July 2020.
Machinery that fits a standard box or an open top within road limits moves as normal container cargo. Loads that can be split into road-legal pieces do not qualify, since the permit covers single indivisible units only.
Specialist partners do the lifting and hauling. Our team keeps permit, route, customs and vessel in step.
Out of gauge cargo that still ships as a container.
Vessel choice, Incoterms and bills of lading.
Shipping bills and examination for non-containerised cargo.
Crating, preservation and marine cover.
Zero duty import of capital goods against export obligation.
Duty free inputs for export production.
The circular groups modular hydraulic trailer combinations into 13 classes. Gross vehicle weight below excludes the puller tractor, which is taken as a three-axle unit of 25 tonnes with ballast.
If the regional officers do not review within 7 days, the portal treats the chosen route as feasible and asks for the fee. Unpaid fees lapse after 7 days and the application starts again.
This is the sequence on the MoRTH portal for a National Highway move. Stages 1 and 4 cause most rejections.
Confirm length, width, height, weight and centre of gravity from the manufacturer’s drawings. Survey bridges, curves, overhead lines and underpasses on the intended route.
Consignor, consignee and transporter each register once. The registered email becomes the login.
The consignor or consignee uploads the dimensions, origin and destination, signs the declaration and nominates the transporter.
The transporter adds the trailer, puller tractor and driver, which the portal checks on VAHAN and SARATHI. The route needs a station every 100 km and an AIS 140 tracking device.
The fee is charged per 50 km of National Highway by trailer class. Once paid, the portal issues the single-trip permission letter.
Start within 7 days or extend on the portal. After delivery, the transporter declares trip closure within 15 days.
Planning to move a unit wider than 2.6 m or heavier than a normal trailer can carry? Send us the drawing on WhatsApp for a permit and route check.
Annexure VI of the circular sets the conditions every permitted ODC move must follow.
The portal covers National Highways only. State highways and city roads fall under the state or local authority, and the transporter arranges those permissions separately.
At the port, the choice depends on weight, whether the unit can roll and the lifting gear at both ends.
Stowage and lashing at sea follow the IMO CSS Code. The lashing plan is checked against the ship’s cargo securing manual by the attending surveyor.
Road, port and customs read these against each other. The third column is where the move stops.
Most failures come from a figure that changed between the drawing, the permit and the ship.
This is an illustrative composite, not a named client. A transformer maker applies for an HT-4 permit using the bare unit’s drawing. On loading, the transport saddles add height and weight beyond what was declared. The move needs a fresh application, and the vessel slot is lost. Measuring the loaded unit on its saddles before applying would have saved the booking.
For plant coming into India, the Project Imports Regulations 1986 let all goods for an eligible project be assessed under one tariff heading, 98.01. CBIC’s taxpayer guide lists industrial plants, irrigation, power, mining and oil or mineral exploration projects.
ODC means over dimensional consignment: a single indivisible load whose width, height or length on the vehicle exceeds the limits in Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989. Overweight loads are called OWC.
For National Highways, apply on the MoRTH ODC portal. The consignor uploads the cargo details and nominates a transporter, who adds the trailer, driver and route. Permission is issued online after the fee is paid.
HT-1 to HT-3 permissions are generated in real time once the route is accepted. For HT-4 to HT-13, regional officers have up to 7 days to review the bridges on the route.
They are the modular hydraulic trailer classes in the MoRTH circular, from HT-1 with 4 axle rows and 72 tonnes to HT-13 with 16+16 axle rows and 576 tonnes. No axle row may carry more than 18 tonnes.
The vehicle is held for 7 days and a fine of twenty times the fee is imposed. It may then move only by detouring all bridges, and the transporter is barred from the portal for at least a year.
Yes. The MoRTH portal covers National Highways only. Stretches on state highways or city roads need permission from the state or local authority that controls them.
Breakbulk means loading cargo piece by piece into a ship’s hold or onto its deck instead of in a container. It suits units too large or heavy for a flat rack.
A flat rack is a container base with end walls that travels on container ships and uses container terminals. Breakbulk is loaded directly into the ship without a container and suits heavier units.
Yes, under the Project Imports Regulations 1986 and heading 98.01, if the project is eligible and the contract was registered before import. A single machine does not qualify.
No. Heavy haulage, cranes and vessels are provided by specialist partners in our pan-India network. We brief them and check the permit, route and documents. We stay accountable to you.
Rasp International is an ISO 9001:2015 certified EXIM and DGFT advisory firm in Agra with more than 500 exporters served. For each project move we check the drawings against the permit, match the trailer class to the load and keep the vessel booking and customs filing in step.
See the full partner network on our customs house agent services page.
Send the drawing, weight and origin. We will flag permit class, route and vessel issues before booking.
This page is general guidance. Circulars, portal screens and bridge restrictions change. Verify against the current MoRTH circular and the ODC portal before you apply or move.
Related: container transportation and flat racks, freight forwarding and Incoterms, EPCG for capital goods and the logistics hub.
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