I'll be flying from the US to Malaysia with a 2-day transit in Chennai. Is there a place where I can store my bags at MAA airport before customs? The reason being, I'll be bringing quite a few stuff for resale in Malaysia and don't want to be charged customs duty in Chennai, as those are not for use/sale in India.
Also, I'm happy to receive any suggestion for alternative solutions.
While I can't speak for Chennai in particular, the general rule of thumb that a stay of up to 24 hours between two flights on the same ticket is considered a "transit" and the airline will hold and transfer your bags for you for free. However, if your stay is over 24 hours, it's now a "stopover" and you will need to collect your bags.
Customs may also have a bonded warehouse facility for temporarily bringing items into the country without paying duty. That said, I used this once in Finland and it was bureaucratic nightmare involving lots of confusion, phone calls and driving around the airport; I can't imagine the amount of red tape this would involve in India.
