Shipping from India to Mexico
Ocean FCL, LCL and air freight from India to Altamira, Veracruz and Manzanillo. Airlift’s own offices in India handle pickup and export; Mexican customs clearance and delivery run through our partner network.
Request an India–Mexico freight quote
India to Mexico at a Glance
Airlift ships from India to Mexico by sea and air. Containers load at Mundra, Nhava Sheva and other Indian gateways under Airlift’s own offices, and discharge at Altamira or Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico or at Manzanillo on the Pacific, where our partner network handles customs clearance and delivery. India and Mexico have no free trade agreement, so every entry pays Mexico’s general import duty, and since January 1, 2026, a reformed tariff schedule applies higher rates to many goods from countries without an agreement. The customs section below explains what that means for Indian-origin goods.
After the United States and Canada, Mexico is among the destinations Airlift books most often from India, and the trade is large and growing on the Indian side. Data México, the Mexican economy ministry’s trade portal, records passenger cars as Mexico’s biggest single purchase from India in 2024 (US$1.32 billion) and puts Mexican imports from India at US$975 million in July 2026 alone; Mexico City, the State of Mexico and Nuevo León are the largest importing states. Besides vehicles, the lane carries auto parts, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, aluminum and iron products, and the stone, cast-iron and industrial cargo Airlift loads in India every week.
Quick Facts: India Mexico
Major Ports (Based on Airlift Shipment Volume)
Which Mexican port to use depends on where your cargo is going: Mexico has container gateways on two coasts. Altamira (UN/LOCODE MXATM) is the discharge port Airlift uses most often on this lane. It is an industrial port on the Gulf of Mexico in Tamaulipas, the northeastern state on the Texas border, about 15 nautical miles north of Tampico. Its port authority, ASIPONA Altamira, reports two multipurpose terminals handling containers, Altamira Terminal Portuaria (TUM I) and Infraestructura Portuaria Mexicana (TUM II), with 802,000 TEU handled in 2024 and 499,222 TEU in the first seven months of 2026.
Veracruz (MXVER), farther south on the same Gulf coast, is Mexico’s oldest port and its main automotive gateway. ASIPONA Veracruz reports 1.30 million TEU in 2024 and 1.30 million in 2025. Hutchison Ports operates the ICAVE container terminal in the port’s expansion zone, and the port links to Mexico City by toll highway through Córdoba and Puebla and by rail (Kansas City Southern de México and Ferrosur–Ferromex).
Manzanillo (MXZLO) in Colima, on the Pacific, is Mexico’s busiest container port: 3.92 million TEU in 2024 per ASIPONA Manzanillo, across the SSA, Contecon, TIMSA and OCUPA terminals. Ferromex rail connects it to Guadalajara and Mexico City, and it is the natural gateway for the Pacific side and for cargo routed transpacific through Asian hubs. Each port has a port-code page with its UN/LOCODE facts; the Sealanes pages for Mundra and Nhava Sheva show current published sailings from India.
Top origin ports:
Mundra, Nhava Sheva
Top destination ports:
Altamira, Veracruz (Gulf of Mexico); Manzanillo (Pacific)
- Altamira (MXATM) port code and profile
- Veracruz (MXVER) port code and profile
- Manzanillo (MXZLO) port code and profile
- Current sailings from Mundra (Sealanes port page)
- Current sailings from Nhava Sheva (Sealanes port page)
- Mundra (INMUN) port code and profile
- Nhava Sheva / JNPT (INNSA) port code and profile
Transit Times and Routing (Carrier Schedules and Airlift Shipments)
In published carrier schedules, port-to-port transit runs from about 36 to 69 days on the common routings, depending on the coast and the relay port. The Manzanillo and Veracruz figures below come from the carrier schedules the Sealanes feed listed for departures between September 18 and October 16, 2026; the Altamira figure comes from Airlift’s own shipments, in the table at the end of this section. All of them are planning ranges, not guaranteed durations: confirm the sailing and relay port when you request a quote.
To Manzanillo (Pacific): about 38–64 days from Mundra and 36–69 days from Nhava Sheva on the common routings. Cargo moves transpacific on HMM, ONE, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Maersk sailings, relayed most often through Busan and otherwise through Ningbo, Shanghai, Singapore, Port Klang or Hong Kong; a few sailings were listed without a relay. Some sailings with a long wait at the relay port were quoted at 80 days or more.
To Veracruz (Gulf): about 46–64 days from Mundra and 42–59 days from Nhava Sheva. Cargo goes the other way around the world on Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Maersk sailings relayed through Southampton, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven or Tangier Med, some with a first call at Salalah or Colombo.
To Altamira (Gulf): 52–68 days from Mundra on Airlift’s own shipments (P10–P90, sailings that departed July 2025 to June 2026). Altamira is not in the public schedule feed Sealanes tracks, so Airlift confirms the carrier, relay port and transit for each Altamira booking at quote time, and quotes other load ports case by case. The Houston Sealanes page shows a Gulf sailing routed via Altamira in the September 2026 snapshot, which is the kind of rotation to ask about.
- Sailings from Mundra (Sealanes)
- Sailings from Nhava Sheva (Sealanes)
- Houston Sealanes page: a Gulf sailing routed via Altamira
- Ocean transit-time estimator
From Mundra
| Destination port | Transit planning range |
|---|---|
| Altamira | 52–68 days |
Mundra to Altamira: the 10th to the 90th percentile (P10–P90) of Airlift’s own shipments on the pair, port to port, for sailings that departed between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. It is a planning range, not a guaranteed transit time.
These ranges are port to port only. The glossary explains what a quoted transit time includes and which origin and destination legs it leaves out.
Guides for each port pair
Pick your load port and destination. Each page has the port codes, live sailings, the planning range (where the table above lists one) and a quote form with the route already filled in.
- From Mundra: Altamira
Shipping from India to Mexico?
Tell us the cargo, ports and dates, and we’ll quote the routeAir Freight from India to Mexico
Ocean transit on this lane takes weeks, with at least one relay on most routings. When cargo can’t wait, Airlift flies it. Samples, spare parts, pharmaceuticals, launch quantities and high-value goods move by air through the same Indian offices that handle our ocean containers, so export documents and tracking follow one process, while the Mexican import is coordinated through our partner network.
Cargo leaves Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Bengaluru (BLR), Chennai (MAA) or Hyderabad (HYD) and connects through a hub, so airport-to-airport time depends on the routing: ask for the routing and schedule with your quote. In Mexico, a July 2023 decree moved cargo-only flights out of Mexico City International Airport (MEX), and Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU), north of the capital, is now Mexico’s largest air cargo hub, handling 406,193 metric tons in 2025; MEX still handled 252,556 metric tons that year.
Air freight is priced on chargeable weight: the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight (length × width × height in centimeters ÷ 6,000). Dense cargo such as machine parts pays by the kilo; cartons of light goods pay by volume. That is why two shipments with the same gross weight can be quoted very differently.
- Documents: air waybill, commercial invoice and packing list, with the shipping bill filed on ICEGATE at the Indian departure airport. Mexican Customs expects the commercial invoice in Spanish (or with a Spanish translation) alongside the pedimento.
- Before the cargo flies, the Mexican importer must be registered in the Padrón de Importadores (importers’ registry) and have appointed a licensed agente aduanal. Air cargo cannot be released without both.
- Consolidated air freight is available for smaller, time-critical shipments that don’t justify a full pallet.
- No ISF: the Importer Security Filing is a US Customs requirement and does not apply to cargo entering Mexico.
What Determines Your India–Mexico Freight Rate
Airlift does not publish India–Mexico rates online; request a quote with your dates and cargo details. These are the factors that make two quotes for the same container differ, and the ones you can influence.
- Coast and port pair: Gulf arrivals (Altamira, Veracruz) and Pacific arrivals (Manzanillo) run on different services with different relay ports and transit times. If you deliver to central Mexico, get both quoted.
- Container size and type: 20′ standard, 40′ standard and 40′ high cube, plus open-top or flat-rack equipment for oversized cargo.
- Cargo weight: heavy goods such as granite, quartz and cast iron hit Mexican road weight limits first, so a 20′ container is often the practical choice even when a 40′ would fit by volume.
- Season and routing: peak-season surcharges and general rate increases follow the carriers’ Asia and Europe rotations, and a relay through a congested hub adds time before it adds cost.
- Contract versus spot: recurring volumes can go on carrier contracts with protected space; one-off shipments move at spot rates.
- Destination charges: terminal handling (maniobras), the agente aduanal’s fee, the DTA customs processing fee, drayage (trucking from the port), and storage or demurrage after free time are all outside the ocean rate. Ask for them in the quote.
- Duties and IVA are not freight: Mexico’s general import duty and 16% IVA (value-added tax) are assessed on the customs value of the goods, not the freight, so budget them separately by tariff line. The schedule for goods from non-agreement countries such as India changed on January 1, 2026.
Questions about your cargo?
Tell us what you ship and how it is packed, and a specialist will contact you.Common Commodities Shipped
Top commodities (by volume)
- Granite and quartz slabs
- Cast iron and steel pipe
- Automotive components
- Industrial raw materials
Additional commodities handled:
Pharmaceuticals, non-hazardous chemicals, textiles, FIBC and PP bags, packaging materials and machinery parts. By value, Data México lists passenger cars as Mexico’s largest import from India in 2024, with vehicles, auto parts, tires, medicines, chemicals, apparel, footwear, and aluminum and iron products among the main lines.
Customs, Duties & Compliance for Imports from India into Mexico
Airlift’s own offices handle export clearance in India; a licensed agente aduanal working with our partner network files the Mexican import entry. Below are the requirements for an Indian-origin entry into Mexico as of September 2026. Mexico changes its tariff schedule, official standards (NOMs) and customs rules by decree and through the annual Reglas Generales de Comercio Exterior, so confirm the treatment for your tariff line before the goods ship.
At origin: India
- Importer Exporter Code (IEC) from the DGFT: required for any export from India.
- Shipping bill filed on ICEGATE (Indian Customs EDI) with the commercial invoice and packing list; customs issues the Let Export Order after assessment and any examination. The India to USA guide’s customs section covers the same origin process in more detail.
- Airlift’s India offices coordinate the documents, including any certificate of origin, quality certificate or Spanish-language invoice the Mexican buyer’s agente aduanal asks for.
At destination: Mexico
- Padrón de Importadores: every Mexican importer must be registered in the importers’ registry kept by the tax authority (SAT), and goods in listed sensitive sectors also need the sector registry (Padrón de Sectores Específicos). Registration is tied to the importer’s RFC tax number and must be in place before the container sails; it cannot be done at the port.
- Agente aduanal: Mexican Customs (ANAM) requires the importer to contract a licensed customs broker, who files the pedimento (the customs declaration on which duty, IVA and DTA are calculated) with the commercial invoice, bill of lading and any permits or NOM certificates. Mexican tariff lines run to eight digits plus a two-digit NICO identifier and don’t always map one-to-one to other countries’ schedules, so classify with the broker before shipment.
- Ventanilla Única (VUCEM): the government’s single window for lodging foreign-trade documents and value declarations electronically; the broker files the entry through it.
- NOMs and labeling: most products sold at retail in Mexico must meet Mexican Official Standards, including Spanish-language labeling under NOM-050 (general commercial information) and NOM-051 (food and non-alcoholic beverages). Some NOMs require a certificate of compliance from an accredited body with the import documents. Compliance is checked at the border and, in almost every case, must be carried out by the Mexican importer or another Mexican entity with an RFC; a supplier in India cannot self-certify.
- Domestic transport: since August 1, 2023, goods moving by road inside Mexico need the Carta Porte complement to the transport invoice, issued by the trucker or forwarder for the port-to-door leg.
Duties and taxes on goods from India (September 2026)
- No free trade agreement: Mexico has 13 FTAs with some 50 countries (USMCA, the EU, EFTA, Japan, Israel, Latin American partners and the CPTPP), and India is not among them. Indian-origin goods pay the general import duty (IGI) for their tariff line, with no preferential rate and no certificate of origin that would lower it.
- Tariff reform of January 1, 2026: a decree published in the Diario Oficial on December 30, 2025, amended 1,463 tariff lines of the Ley de los Impuestos Generales de Importación y de Exportación for goods from countries without a trade agreement with Mexico, with rates reaching 50%. It covers the automotive, textile, apparel, plastics, steel, appliance, aluminum, toy, furniture, footwear, leather goods, paper and cardboard, motorcycle, trailer and glass sectors. Reporting on the measure puts steel at the 50% ceiling and vehicles and auto parts at 35%. If your product is in one of these sectors, get the current rate for its tariff line before you price the order.
- IVA at 16%: Mexico’s value-added tax applies to most sales and imports and is collected at import with the pedimento; many basic foodstuffs and medicines are zero-rated.
- DTA: the Derecho de Trámite Aduanero customs processing fee is charged on each entry. USMCA-originating goods are exempt; Indian goods are not.
- IMMEX: manufacturers that import inputs temporarily for processing and export can use the IMMEX program to defer the general import duty, IVA and any countervailing duties on those inputs. The program belongs to the Mexican manufacturer, not the Indian exporter, and the goods must be exported after processing.
- US measures don’t apply: Section 301, Section 232 and other US tariff actions are not assessed on goods entering Mexico. If the goods later cross into the United States, that entry carries its own duties and rules of origin.
- Duty, IVA and DTA are assessed on the customs value of the goods, not the freight, and are paid with the pedimento before release.
FCL and LCL Shipping from India to Mexico
You make two choices on this lane: full container (FCL) or shared container (LCL), and which coast the container lands on. The first sets your cost, your door-to-door time and how often your goods are handled between the factory and your warehouse; the second sets the routing and the inland leg.
Gulf coast or Pacific coast?
- Gulf via Altamira or Veracruz: the Atlantic-side routing through Europe, the Mediterranean or the Middle East. Altamira serves Tamaulipas in the northeast; Veracruz is the classic gateway for Mexico City, Puebla and central Mexico, with rail and toll-highway links to the capital.
- Pacific via Manzanillo: the transpacific routing through Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Singapore or Port Klang into Mexico’s largest container port, with Ferromex rail to Guadalajara and Mexico City. It suits Jalisco, the Bajío and the west, and buyers who already receive Asian cargo through Manzanillo.
- Central Mexico can work from either coast: get both routings quoted to your door and compare total cost and transit, not just the ocean rate.
Full container load (FCL)
- Equipment: 20′ standard (about 33 m³ usable), 40′ standard (about 67 m³) and 40′ high cube (about 76 m³), plus open-top and flat-rack equipment for machinery and out-of-gauge cargo.
- The container is loaded and sealed at your supplier’s factory or a container freight station in India, moves under one bill of lading and reaches your door intact; no other shipper’s cargo touches it.
- Weight, not volume, often decides between 20′ and 40′: granite, quartz, tiles and cast metal reach road weight limits long before a 40′ is full, so a 20′ is frequently the practical choice.
- Cut-offs: the booking confirmation lists the document, verified gross mass (VGM) and gate-in cut-offs at Mundra or Nhava Sheva. Miss one and the container rolls to the next sailing, which on a relayed routing can cost a week or more.
Less than container load (LCL)
- Your cartons or pallets are received at a container freight station (CFS) in India, consolidated with other shippers’ cargo, and unpacked at a CFS near the Mexican port before delivery. LCL is available on select routings on this lane; confirm coverage for your port pair when you request a quote.
- LCL is charged per cubic meter or per 1,000 kg, whichever is greater, plus CFS handling at origin and destination.
- Ocean transit is the same as FCL on the same service, but consolidation and deconsolidation add days, so door to door takes longer than with your own container.
- Packaging matters more than with FCL because the cargo is handled several times: palletize, shrink-wrap and mark every piece.
How to choose
- Under roughly 13 m³, LCL is usually cheaper. Between about 13 and 20 m³, ask for both: a 20′ container often costs little more than LCL once CFS charges are added. Above 20 m³, FCL usually wins on cost, handling and transit.
- Time-critical or fragile goods favor FCL even at small volumes, because the container is sealed at origin and opened at your door.
- For very small shipments (a few cartons), air can be cheaper once LCL minimums and CFS charges are counted. The air freight section above explains chargeable weight.
Door-to-Door Delivery and Inland Routing in Mexico
One door-to-door booking covers factory pickup in India, export clearance, the ocean or air leg, the Mexican customs entry through a licensed agente aduanal, and delivery to your warehouse, under one quote and one point of contact. Forwarders differ in what their quote leaves out, so agree the incoterm and the list of included charges before comparing prices.
Your port sets the inland leg. From Altamira, delivery starts in Tamaulipas in the northeast. From Veracruz, cargo for Mexico City, Puebla and central Mexico moves by toll highway through Córdoba and Puebla, or by rail on the KCSM (CPKC) and Ferrosur–Ferromex networks that serve the port. From Manzanillo, Ferromex rail runs to Guadalajara and Mexico City, and trucks cover Colima, Jalisco and the Bajío. Rail and truck are priced case by case; ask for both when the delivery point is inland.
Common terms on this lane: FOB (your supplier loads the goods on board at the Indian port and you pay from there), EXW (you pay from the factory door) and DDP (the supplier quotes a delivered, duty-paid price). DDP is harder in Mexico than it sounds: someone must act as importer of record with an RFC and Padrón de Importadores registration, and NOM compliance must be done by a Mexican entity, which a seller in India normally is not. Settle the incoterm and the importer of record before confirming the order. Airlift can quote from any of these points.
What the destination leg involves
- Customs release: the agente aduanal files the pedimento, duty, IVA and DTA are paid, and the container is released once customs completes any examination it selects.
- Drayage: a truck and chassis move the container from the terminal to your door under a Carta Porte complement, then return the empty to the depot.
- Free time: terminals allow a few days to collect the container before storage charges start, and carriers allow a few days to return the empty before detention applies. Both are billed per day, so have the padrón registration, broker and delivery appointment ready before the vessel arrives.
- Transloading: for distribution, containers can be unloaded at a warehouse near the port and reloaded into domestic trailers, which suits multi-stop deliveries and retailer routing rules.
- Delivery appointments, liftgate service and residential delivery cost extra; mention them when you request a quote so they are priced in.
Choosing a Freight Forwarder for India to Mexico Shipments
On this lane a forwarder does much more than book a container: factory pickup and stuffing in India, the shipping bill with Indian Customs, vessel or aircraft space on a routing that suits your Mexican port, checking that the importer registration, broker and NOM paperwork are ready before arrival, coordinating the pedimento through a licensed agente aduanal, and trucking from the port to your warehouse.
Airlift has handled ocean and air freight since 1999 and is a C-TPAT certified partner. Our own offices across India handle origin, so the shipping bill, stuffing and vessel booking stay with one team. In Mexico, customs coordination, terminal release and delivery run through our partner network and the licensed customs brokers Airlift works with on this lane.
Airlift USA Inc. is an FMC-licensed NVOCC (license 016162) for United States trades. The FMC license and bond cover US ocean commerce and do not extend to Mexico; on the India–Mexico lane, Airlift acts as your freight forwarder.
Shipping company, carrier, forwarder or NVOCC?
- Ocean carriers (shipping lines) own or charter the vessels and set their own rates and schedules. HMM, ONE, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Maersk had published India–Mexico sailings in September 2026; the carrier behind your quote decides the relay port and the transit, so ask which one it is.
- An NVOCC buys space from those lines and issues its own house bill of lading. In the United States, NVOCCs are licensed and bonded by the FMC, but that license covers US trades only; on this lane, the credential to check is the Mexican customs broker’s agente aduanal license.
- A freight forwarder arranges the whole move around the ocean leg: pickup, export clearance, the Mexican customs entry and delivery. Most importers want one company accountable for the bill of lading and the service around it.
What to check before you choose a forwarder:
- Its own staff at origin in India, so factory pickup, the shipping bill and the vessel booking are handled directly, not through a sub-agent.
- Ocean and air on the same lane, so a delayed order can switch modes without switching forwarders.
- A routing answer, not just a rate: which coast, which relay port, and the published transit for that sailing.
- Mexican customs through a licensed agente aduanal, with classification, duty and IVA estimates before you book, and a check that the importer is in the Padrón de Importadores.
- Live tracking and document access instead of emailed status updates.
How to Ship from India to Mexico: Step by Step
- Request a quote: give the pickup and delivery locations, cargo-ready date, commodity, weight and dimensions (or container needs), and whether delivery is to the port or your door. For central Mexico, ask for both a Gulf and a Pacific routing; if the date is tight, ask for an air option too.
- Set up the importer: confirm the Mexican importer’s RFC and Padrón de Importadores registration (plus the sector registry if the product needs it), appoint a licensed agente aduanal, classify the goods to the eight-digit tariff line and NICO, and check the NOM and labeling requirements and the duty rate in force since January 1, 2026.
- Confirm the booking: Airlift’s India office secures vessel or aircraft space and equipment and sends a booking confirmation with the routing, relay port, and document and gate-in cut-offs.
- Pickup and stuffing: the container is positioned at your factory or a container freight station, loaded, sealed and gated in at Mundra or Nhava Sheva.
- Export customs in India: the shipping bill is filed on ICEGATE under the exporter’s IEC with the commercial invoice and packing list, and the Let Export Order is issued.
- Bill of lading and pre-arrival documents: the bill of lading is issued once the vessel sails (air shipments move on an air waybill). The invoice (in Spanish or with a translation), packing list and any NOM certificates go to the agente aduanal so the pedimento can be prepared before arrival.
- In transit: track by container number or bill of lading, with ETA updates as the vessel moves and the relay connection is confirmed.
- Mexican customs entry: the agente aduanal files the pedimento through VUCEM, duty, IVA and DTA are paid, and the container is released after any examination customs selects.
- Delivery: the container is trucked from the port to your door under a Carta Porte complement, and the empty is returned within free time.
Why Airlift for India to Mexico
- Our own offices across India handle pickup, export and booking
- Ocean and air freight on this lane, coordinated by one team
- Gulf and Pacific gateways covered through our partner network in Mexico
- Experience with stone, industrial and manufactured cargo
- Shipment visibility through Airlift’s digital platform
Check our licenses before you ship
Each license and membership below links to the public register or directory that lists it, so you can verify who you are dealing with before you send cargo details.
- FMC OTI license 016162 — Licensed and bonded NVOCC and ocean freight forwarder, d/b/a Airlift Container Line. Look it up on the FMC OTI list →
- FMCSA property broker, USDOT 2355713 / MC-798584 — US drayage and trucking arranged as a non-asset broker through contracted motor carriers. FMCSA SAFER company snapshot →
- WCA World member since 2019 — Los Angeles head office and New Jersey branch, both with Gold Medallion financial protection. WCA member profile →
- C-TPAT certified — Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. About C-TPAT →
- NCBFAA regular member — National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. NCBFAA →
- IATA CargoLink listed — IATA-accredited air cargo agent, listed in the CargoLink directory. CargoLink listing →
What to Include in Your India–Mexico Quote Request
Share these details so the team can check the route, equipment and service scope. If something isn’t decided yet, say so in your notes.
- Pickup location in India and delivery location in Mexico, plus a preferred port or coast if you have one.
- Commodity, package count, gross weight and packed dimensions, or container size and quantity.
- Cargo-ready date and the date you need it to arrive or be delivered.
- Which services to include: pickup, origin handling, freight, customs coordination, final delivery.
- Whether the Mexican importer is already in the Padrón de Importadores with an agente aduanal appointed, or needs help setting that up.
- Stone or metals: the weight of each packed unit. Machinery: lifting points and any oversized dimensions. Retail goods: whether Spanish NOM labeling is done at the factory or in Mexico.
The more of this you send, the more complete the quote, and the easier it is to compare with others.
Request an India–Mexico freight quote
Your route is already in the notes; edit it if you need to. Then add what you are shipping, when it is ready, pickup and delivery locations, and the services you want quoted.
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Tools and guides for this lane
Shipping from a country without a lane guide? See every origin, by region, on shipping to the USA by country of origin.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the coast and routing, and Airlift confirms it per sailing. In published carrier schedules for September–October 2026 departures, Mundra and Nhava Sheva to Manzanillo took about 36 to 69 days on the common transpacific routings (via Busan, Ningbo, Shanghai, Singapore or Port Klang), and to Veracruz about 42 to 64 days (via Southampton, Rotterdam, Wilhelmshaven or Tangier Med). On Airlift’s own shipments, Mundra to Altamira took 52 to 68 days port to port (P10–P90, sailings that departed July 2025 to June 2026); Altamira from other load ports is quoted case by case because the port is not in the public schedule feed. These are planning ranges, not guarantees; ask for the sailing and relay port with your quote.
It depends on where the cargo is going. Altamira, in Tamaulipas in the northeast, is the discharge port Airlift uses most often on this lane. Veracruz is the traditional gateway for Mexico City, Puebla and central Mexico, with highway and rail links to the capital. Both are on the Gulf of Mexico and reached on Atlantic-side routings. Manzanillo, on the Pacific in Colima, is Mexico’s busiest container port, sits on transpacific routings through Asian hubs, and has Ferromex rail to Guadalajara and Mexico City. For central Mexico, get both coasts quoted to your door.
Both. FCL moves in 20′, 40′ and 40′ high-cube containers, with flat-rack and open-top for oversized cargo, and LCL consolidation is available on select routings on this lane. As a rule of thumb, shipments under roughly 13 cubic meters usually cost less as LCL; above that, your own container tends to win on cost and handling.
In India: commercial invoice, packing list and the shipping bill filed on ICEGATE under the exporter’s IEC, coordinated by Airlift’s own Indian offices. In Mexico: the importer’s RFC and Padrón de Importadores registration, the bill of lading, the commercial invoice in Spanish (or with a translation), any NOM certificates of compliance the product needs, and the pedimento, prepared and filed by a licensed agente aduanal through the VUCEM single window. The US ISF does not apply to cargo entering Mexico.
Indian goods pay Mexico’s general import duty (IGI) at the full rate for their tariff line, because as of September 2026 there is no free trade agreement between India and Mexico. The rate is set by the eight-digit tariff line and NICO; on top come 16% IVA on the customs value including duty, and the DTA customs processing fee. Since January 1, 2026, a decree amending 1,463 tariff lines applies higher rates, up to 50%, to goods from countries without an agreement, across automotive, textile, apparel, plastics, steel, appliance, aluminum, toy, furniture, footwear, leather, paper, motorcycle, trailer and glass lines. The rate follows the goods, not the freight, so confirm the classification with the agente aduanal before the order ships.
Yes. The importer needs an RFC tax number and registration in the Padrón de Importadores kept by the SAT (plus the Padrón de Sectores Específicos for products in listed sensitive sectors), and must contract a licensed agente aduanal to file the pedimento. Both must be in place before the container sails; a container that arrives for an unregistered importer sits at the terminal running up storage until the registration is granted.
Yes. Mexico’s customs agency, ANAM, lists contracting a licensed agente aduanal among the requirements for importing. The broker classifies the goods, files the pedimento, pays the duty, IVA and DTA on your behalf and obtains release. Airlift coordinates the entry with a broker through our partner network; if you don’t have one, say so when you request a quote and the team will arrange it.
Use the quote form on this page. Airlift does not publish India–Mexico rates online, so the form is the way to get one. Include your pickup and delivery locations, cargo-ready date, commodity, weight and dimensions or container needs, and whether you want delivery to the port or your door.
Yes. Cargo leaves Delhi (DEL), Mumbai (BOM), Bengaluru (BLR), Chennai (MAA) or Hyderabad (HYD) and connects through a hub into Felipe Ángeles (NLU), Mexico’s largest air cargo hub since cargo-only flights left Mexico City (MEX) in 2023, or flies as belly cargo into MEX. Airport-to-airport time depends on the routing, so ask for the routing and schedule with your quote. The air freight section above explains how chargeable weight is calculated.
There is no fixed price: the quote depends on the coast and port pair, cargo-ready date, equipment, cargo weight and season, so Airlift does not publish one. Ask for the ocean rate and the destination charges (terminal handling, the agente aduanal’s fee, DTA, drayage and any storage beyond free time) together. Budget duty and IVA separately, because they are assessed on the customs value of the goods, not the freight.
For most commercial cargo, ocean FCL has the lowest cost per unit. LCL usually wins below roughly 13 cubic meters; air costs the most but is the only option when the delivery date can’t move. Plan heavy stone and metal around Mexican road weight limits, which often favor 20′ containers over 40′. For central Mexico, compare a Gulf arrival with a Manzanillo arrival plus rail; the answer changes with the season and routing.
One booking covers factory pickup, export clearance in India, the ocean or air leg, the Mexican customs entry through a licensed agente aduanal, and trucking to your warehouse. Inland moves go by road or rail from the port (Veracruz and Manzanillo both have rail to Mexico City), and the truck leg carries a Carta Porte complement. Ask for the incoterm and the list of included charges so you can compare door-to-door quotes on equal terms, and settle who the importer of record is before agreeing to DDP.
No. Airlift moves commercial freight (cartons and pallets by LCL or air consolidation, and full containers), not individual parcels, mail or personal and household effects; use a courier or postal service for those. Note that since August 15, 2025, Mexico’s simplified courier regime applies a single global rate of 33.5% to non-USMCA parcels, so a courier shipment from India is not duty-free either.
Yes, through the IMMEX program: a Mexican manufacturer can import inputs temporarily and defer the general import duty, IVA and any countervailing duties, provided the goods are processed and exported. The program belongs to the Mexican manufacturer, not the Indian supplier, and finished goods that later enter the United States face US rules of origin and US duties at that border. Airlift can route containers to the manufacturer’s port of choice; the manufacturer’s agente aduanal files the IMMEX entry.
Case by case. This page covers India to Mexico, which Airlift runs from its own offices in India; the same team reviews requests for the return direction. Use the quote form, state the direction and the pickup point in Mexico, and include the cargo details from the checklist above.