India agrees to provide port facilities at Petrapole

FE Team | Published: August 07, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Doulot Akter Mala
The Indian government recently agreed, in principle, to provide port facilities at its Petrapole land customs (LC) station to facilitate smooth export and import activities with Bangladesh.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Department of Revenue in India, at a meeting on July 25-26 in New Delhi, assured a visiting Bangladesh delegation that it would build necessary infrastructure in the land port within the shortest possible time.
The assurance came following a proposal of the delegation of Bangladesh, led by Customs member Rashidul Ahsan Chowdhury.
Five LC stations of Bangladesh, including Benapole, have port facilities for conducting smooth export-import, but the LC stations of India lack such infrastructural facility.
Non-availability of infrastructural facilitates in the Indian LC stations have been hindering export of Bangladeshi products to India.
Currently, only 31 out of Bangladesh's 179 LC stations are operative. Of them, five LC stations -- Benapole, Banglabandha, Sonamasjid, Hili and Bibir Bazar -- have modern infrastructural facilities like warehouse, sheds, truck loading and unloading facilities, parking yards etc.
In the meeting, the delegation proposed India to build necessary infrastructure in its 12 LC stations to facilitate the export of perishable goods from Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh team proposed to build proper warehouse facility in the Indian land customs stations, the absence of which is considered a major non-tariff barrier to Bangladeshi export.
Of the total bilateral trade volume of $ 2.09 billion, Bangladesh's annual export to India is worth only US$ 242 million.
While talking to the FE Monday, the member (customs) said: "We held the 4th meeting of Joint Group of Customs in India to facilitate the import-export activities."
The Indian delegation, led by Commissioner of Customs and Export Promotion PS Pruthi CBEC, for the first time agreed to provide all port facility in its major Petrapole LC station.
"The Indian delegation will discuss the matter with the central government to build necessary infrastructure at the LC stations," Chowdhury said.
India also proposed Bangladesh at the talks to open the Tegamukh LC station in Rangamati to facilitate the import of Bangladeshi products for Mijoram, he said.
"We will consider opening of the station if the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) make assurance of security in the border," he added.
With the activation of Tegamukh border, Bangladeshi products will get a large market access to Indian Mijoram state.
Besides, the meeting also discussed the issue of mutual exchange of information and resolving customs-related problems.
It dwelt on removal of non-tariff and para-tariff barriers as well as trade disputes that hinder export of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the planning commission, with the financial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has been conducting a study on transport corridor facility at the land customs stations.
The study also focused on infrastructure development of the land ports and construction of approach roads to all land customs stations. It has identified 18 land customs stations for such kind of development.