MetEx House, 496a Great West Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, TW5 0TE  ·  Shipping since 1998
0800 096 38 39
🗻 & ✈ Shipping to India • UK’s India specialists • Since 1998

Shipping to India from the UK
Luggage, personal effects & household goods — by air or sea

Everything you need to ship to India in one place. We collect from your door anywhere in the UK, handle the Transfer of Residence customs paperwork, and deliver to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and beyond. Air freight in 4–7 working days, or economical sea freight in roughly 4–8 weeks, subject to space and flight availability with the carriers. These sea transit times are approximate — the actual time depends on when your LCL container finishes loading and consolidating, the vessel’s sailing date and route, any transhipment hub before the final destination, and customs clearance, so please allow a week or two either side. Shipping to India since 1998.

Get a quote 📞 0800 096 38 39

India is our single largest diaspora route — from students sending boxes home to families making a permanent move back after decades in the UK. It’s also the route where the customs rules changed most recently: India replaced its baggage regime with the Baggage Rules 2026, raising the Transfer of Residence allowances considerably. This guide brings together everything that actually matters for a UK–India shipment, drawn from our Heathrow-side operation and 25+ years on this lane.

Every way we ship to India

Not sure which service you need? Start here — each links to full details, transit times and what’s included.

How shipping to India works, step by step

1
Quote & book

Tell us what you’re sending and where. We’ll give you a clear quote up front.

2
Door collection

We collect from your address anywhere in the UK. No depot or airport drop-off needed.

3
Pack & document

Goods are export-packed and we prepare your itemised inventory and the customs declaration.

4
Ship by air or sea

Air freight from Heathrow, or consolidated sea freight to Nhava Sheva (Mumbai).

5
Customs clearance

Indian Customs (CBIC) assess your shipment. Your Transfer of Residence declaration is filed digitally on ICEGATE and signed by you in person.

6
Delivery

Your goods are delivered to your Indian address, or ready to collect from the arrival depot.

Transfer of Residence — the allowance, tier by tier

India lets people genuinely moving their home bring used personal and household articles in duty-free under the Transfer of Residence (ToR) concession. It works as a value allowance that scales with how long you’ve been abroad — not a blanket exemption — and the limits were raised under the Baggage Rules 2026.

The concession: used personal and household articles clear free of duty when you are transferring your residence to India, up to a value cap set by the length of your stay abroad.
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The tiers (Baggage Rules 2026): abroad up to 12 months → around ₹1.5 lakh; 1–2 years → around ₹3 lakh; more than 2 years → around ₹7.5 lakh (raised from ₹5 lakh). Limits are revised from time to time — we’ll confirm the current position when we quote.
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Who qualifies: Indian passport holders returning to settle, OCI cardholders taking up long-term residence, people of Indian origin moving back, and foreign nationals arriving on an employment or residence visa. The concession follows the move, not citizenship — a visitor or tourist doesn’t qualify however long they’ve been away.
The conditions that catch people out: for the top tier you must have lived abroad at least 2 years immediately before returning, with visits back to India totalling no more than about 6 months in that period (Customs can condone longer in special cases), and you must not have claimed ToR in the preceding 3 years. Only one unit of each article is allowed per family.
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The two annexures matter: articles listed in Annexure I are not permitted duty-free at all, and Annexure II articles come in at a concessional rate rather than free. New items bought for the move don’t qualify. We’ll go through your inventory against these before anything ships.
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Documents: passport, visa or OCI card, a detailed inventory, the bill of lading, and the ToR declaration — which is yours to sign in person at the port, or through a power-of-attorney holder. Clearance is filed digitally on ICEGATE.

Moving-to-India shipping guide ›

What you can’t ship — and what slows shipments down

Some items are prohibited in freight, and a few attract duty so steep they’re rarely worth shipping. Declaring honestly keeps your clearance quick.

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Prohibited in freight: aerosols and pressurised cans, perfumes and aftershaves (flammable), loose batteries, and tobacco. Leave them out.
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Alcohol carries very high duty in India — commonly quoted at around 160% plus possible penalties. It’s almost never worth shipping; if it must travel, it has to be declared separately and packed for easy inspection.
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Restricted: drones are not permitted in baggage, and satellite phones need prior authorisation. Gold and jewellery above the personal allowance must be declared.
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List everything clearly. Indian customs inspect personal-effects shipments as a matter of course — a complete, itemised inventory is what keeps it moving. Number your boxes to match the list.

What we see most often — and how to avoid it

Most UK–India shipments clear without drama. The ones that don’t nearly always come down to the same short list:

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The 6-month visit rule. Short trips home during your qualifying 2 years count towards the limit — add them up before you assume you qualify for the top tier.
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Owner not there to sign. The ToR declaration is the passenger’s own. If you can’t be at the port, arrange a power of attorney in advance rather than after the goods land.
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Assuming it’s all free. ToR is a capped allowance with excluded and concessional-rate annexures — budget for anything above the cap rather than being surprised.
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Claiming ToR too soon. If you or a family member claimed the concession within the last 3 years, you can’t claim again — tell us early so we plan around it.

What a shipment to India actually looks like

An illustrative example of a common scenario — your quote is always to your exact shipment.

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A family returning to Bangalore after more than two years in the UK would typically send a home’s contents by shared-container sea freight to Nhava Sheva, with us collecting from their UK door, export-packing, and preparing a detailed inventory checked against the ToR annexures. Used furniture, kitchenware, clothing and appliances clear under the ToR allowance; anything above the cap or listed in the annexures is declared for duty. Transit is usually 4–8 weeks. Urgent items go ahead by air.

Door-to-door across India

We deliver nationwide. Here are our most popular destinations — each with local delivery detail and transit times:

Which is right for your shipment?

Air freight suits a few boxes or anything urgent — 4–7 working days, priced on weight and size. Sea freight suits volume — a room, a family’s contents or a whole home — at a fraction of the per-kilo cost, over roughly 4–8 weeks door-to-door. Many customers split the two: air for the essentials, sea for the rest.

Shipping to India — your questions answered

Should I ship or pay the airline for extra bags? +
For more than a bag or two, shipping is usually cheaper than airline excess-baggage fees — and you’re not carrying the weight through the airport. We collect from your door and deliver across India.
How long does it take? +
Air freight is typically 4–7 working days. Sea freight is typically around 4–8 weeks door-to-door, plus customs clearance.
Will I pay duty? +
Used personal and household articles clear duty-free under the Transfer of Residence concession when you're genuinely moving your home to India, up to a value cap that scales with your time abroad — currently around ₹1.5 lakh (up to 12 months), ₹3 lakh (1–2 years) and ₹7.5 lakh (over 2 years) under the Baggage Rules 2026. It's an allowance, not a blanket exemption: Annexure I articles get no duty-free treatment and Annexure II articles attract a concessional rate.
What changed under the Baggage Rules 2026? +
India replaced its baggage regime in 2026. The headline changes for people moving home are higher Transfer of Residence allowances (the over-2-years tier rose from around ₹5 lakh to around ₹7.5 lakh), a higher general duty-free allowance, a rationalised list of eligible articles, and digital self-declaration through ICEGATE to speed up clearance. We’ll confirm the current limits when we quote.
What paperwork do I need? +
Passport, visa or OCI card, a detailed inventory, the bill of lading, and the Transfer of Residence declaration — signed by you in person at the port or by a power-of-attorney holder. Filing is digital via ICEGATE. We prepare the UK-side paperwork and inventory with you.
Can I send electrical items and furniture? +
Yes — used appliances, electronics and furniture are the core of a ToR shipment, though only one unit of each article is allowed per family and some items sit in the concessional annexure. India uses 230V with mostly round-pin sockets, so UK plugs usually need adapters.
Is my shipment insured? +
We offer marine transit cover — we’ll explain the options and cost when we quote, and we always recommend cover for a long-haul shipment.
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Lak Kharod, Director
Excess Luggage Co. • overseeing UK–India shipping since 1998 • MetEx House, Hounslow, next to Heathrow

Excess Luggage Co. has shipped personal effects, luggage and household goods from the UK to India for over 28 years — through our own Heathrow-side warehouse and collection fleet. We know this route and exactly what India customs looks for. For a quote or advice on your paperwork, call us on 0800 096 38 39.

Ready to ship to India?

Tell us what you’re sending and where it’s going. We’ll come back with a quote and a realistic transit-time estimate — before you commit to anything.