NEW DELHI: Inching closer to making the International North South Transportation Corridor INSTC ) a reality -- connecting India with Russia and Europe via Iran -- a dry run of container movement via the green corridor (smooth customs facilitation) may be conducted soon, marking the 70th anniversary of Indo-Russian diplomatic ties this month.INSTC will substantially reduce time taken and cost for transport of goods between India and Eurasia once fully functional and increase economic activities between India and the resource-rich Russia as well as markets of Europe.The INSTC has moved closer to implementation after India decided to join international customs convention TIR following cabinet approval. The modalities of making INSTC functional was discussed at a multi-stakeholder meeting recently, people familiar with the developments told ET. INSTC is one of corridors that Delhi is working on as part of connectivity initiatives parallel to China 's One Belt One Road strategy.Prime Minister Narendra Modi might visit Astrakhan entry point of INSTC in Russia during his June trip to St Petersburg for International Economic Forum. India and Russia celebrates 70 years of diplomatic ties on April 13 and a series of events and visits are planned through the year.INSTC is a land-and sea-based 7,200-km long network comprising rail, road and water routes that are aimed at reducing costs and travel time for freight transport in a bid to boost trade between Russia, Iran, Central Asia, India and Europe.The network is expected to provide faster and more efficient trade connectivity between Europe and Southeast Asia.A study, conducted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders' Associations in India, showed that INSTC will be 30% cheaper and 40% shorter than the existing routes.Last October, Russia’s JSC RZD Logistics, Iran Railways, Azerbaijan Railways and logistics company ADY Express organised the first test shipment on the INSTC. The train left Mumbai on September 22 and arrived in Russia’s Kaluga Region on October 12. The transit time was 23 days. India and Russia currently use maritime routes for freight transport at the moment, with goods reaching their destination in about 40 days.Containers with industrial radiators were sent by sea from Mumbai to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, then transported by rail to Iran’s Rasht station and from there delivered by road to Astara (Azerbaijan), reloaded on the railway and finally delivered to the destination in Russia.Earlier, dry runs on two routes of INSTC were conducted in 2014, the first from Mumbai to Baku via Bandar Abbas and the second from Mumbai to Astrakhan via Bandar Abbas, Tehran and Bandar Anzali. Chabahar port in Iran once functional and connected to the Iranian Railway network will also be part of INSTC.