Car Shipping to India

Why ship a car to India from the UK

Ship Cars RoRo is a specialist UK vehicle export company moving cars, SUVs, classics, motorbikes and light commercials to India every month. Asian markets reward UK exporters with premium pricing in exchange for tighter homologation, age limits and emission standards. South Asian markets share documentation patterns, while Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan run their own pre-shipment inspection regimes. Typical clients on this lane include right-hand-drive private importers, alongside private owners relocating to India and returning residents importing a personal vehicle. Our UK-to-India corridor is engineered around predictable transit, transparent pricing and full compliance with India customs.

Vehicles depart from Tilbury, Immingham, Liverpool and arrive at Mumbai (JNPT/Nhava Sheva), Chennai, Kolkata via Suez transit transhipping at Singapore or Port Klang. Typical door-to-port turnaround is 22–28 days to mumbai/jnpt, supported by marine all-risks insurance, GPS-tracked UK collection and bonded warehousing where required. For an instant indication of cost, use our car shipping cost calculator or request a tailored quote on our quote page.

How UK to India car shipping works

Every shipment to India follows the same six-step pipeline: free quotation, UK collection or self-drop at Tilbury, bonded UK warehousing and pre-shipment photos, HMRC NOVA / C88 export clearance handled by our UK customs clearance team, ocean transit to Mumbai (JNPT/Nhava Sheva) (and onward feeder to Chennai where required), and destination customs handover. You choose the shipping mode that best matches the vehicle profile and budget — see the full breakdown on our car shipping costs page or compare live RORO sailing dates to India.

India ports, routing and transit

Vehicles bound for India are typically routed through Mumbai (JNPT/Nhava Sheva) as the lead discharge port, with Chennai, Kolkata available as alternatives depending on sailing schedule and onward inland transport. We schedule loads to match weekly RORO sailing schedules to India and consolidated shared container departures from the UK. For sole-use loads we book 20ft and 40ft container slots on the same rotation.

• Port of Mumbai (JNPT/Nhava Sheva)
• Port of Chennai
• Port of Kolkata
• UK departure: Southampton
• UK departure: Tilbury
• UK departure: Bristol (Portbury)

India import duty, VAT and customs in 2026

Importing a vehicle into India is regulated and document-driven. The headline framework is summarised below; our team verifies every figure against the latest India customs schedule before quoting.

• Strict homologation and emission standards (Euro 4–6)
• Carnet de Passage in selected markets
• Right-hand-drive advantage for South and East Asia
• Container shipping via Singapore, Port Klang and Hong Kong

Document checklist for India

• V5C registration
• Passport
• Commercial invoice
• Bill of Lading
• Transfer of Residence certificate
• IEC (Import Export Code)

For full country-specific customs rules, see our India import guides and articles, our UK and India customs clearance service, or use the duty-inclusive cost calculator for a landed estimate to Mumbai (JNPT/Nhava Sheva).

Other Asia destinations from the UK

We ship to 8+ other Asia countries from the UK on the same trade lanes as India. Many customers shipping to India also enquire about Sri Lanka, Pakistan because routing, customs documentation and transit windows overlap.