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Indian transit thru BD begins formally

Ziaur Rahman & Syful Islam | Published: June 15, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: June 15, 2016 00:30:46


A ship carrying 1,000 tonnes of steel and iron sheets, bound for Tripura, is scheduled to reach Ashuganj river port on Wednesday morning as Bangladesh and India are ready to launch formal transit trade and transportation.      

According to officials, with transshipment of this consignment to India's northeastern state, the formal transit between the two neighbours will become fully operational, with provision of third-country access. 

Shipping Minister Md. Shahjahan Khan MP will formally inaugurate the transit facility by unloading the cargos from the ship tomorrow (June 16) at a function on the port premises. 

Prime Minister's Economic Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and Shipping Secretary Ashok Madhab Roy would also attend the programme.

The government had earlier allowed transshipment of 10,000 tonnes of Indian food-grains to Tripura via Ashuganj river port on humanitarian grounds, without levying any charge. This time around, they have to pay transshipment fee of about Tk 192.22 per tonne in addition to other charges. Bangladesh also had allowed use of the route for transshipment of heavy machinery to Palatana power plant in Tripura.

Under the formal transit now, India has to pay all charges, like transshipment fee, berthing fee, landing fee, pilot fee, channel charge, labour hauling etc. 

Goods in transit will be brought from Kolkata to Ashuganj through a river route and then from Ashuganj to Agartala, the capital of Tripura, on land route.

A Bangladeshi ship, Newtech-6, loaded with about 1,000 tonnes of corrugated iron sheets, sailed from Kolkata on June 3 and reached the port in Khulna's Angtihara on June 7. The crew made payment to the NBR office there and got clearance for the onward voyage. The vessel finally set out for Ashuganj on June 11 and it is expected to reach the port Tuesday morning.

The cargos will be unloaded at the port of Ashuganj and then loaded onto Bangladeshi trucks, which will ferry the goods up to the Indo-Bangla border in Akhaura. The vehicles would travel about 52-kilometre road from Ashuganj river port to Akhaura.


With the arrival of the consignment, India's request to Bangladesh for providing transit facilities is getting fulfilled. To make the transshipment a reality, the two countries signed a revised river protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade under Bilateral Trade Agreement in Dhaka in June last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka . 

Under the revised agreement both India and Bangladesh would use each other's territories for transiting goods to a third country. 

The modified deal would enable Bangladesh to use Indian territories for transporting goods to Nepal and Bhutan. Similarly, India would access Myanmar by crossing over Bangladesh.

India had been provided transshipment facility to carry goods to its northeastern states on a trial basis thrice since September 29 last year. The facility was suspended on October 26 last year as the government decided not to allow any more Indian container transport without developing the infrastructure at Ashuganj port to the requisite level.

India is eager for quick construction of the proposed container port to facilitate transportation of goods to Agartala, only 50 kms from Ashuganj. But construction of Ashuganj inland container terminal (ICT) faces recurrent delays due to dispute over land, officials said. Some 30 acres of land will be needed to build the ICT.

The road infrastructure is also not suitable for cargo vehicles to ply.  About 25 kms of the 51-km Ashuganj-Akhaura road is narrow and potholed. Besides, as many as 19 bridges and culverts along the stretch have become risky for plying heavy-duty vehicles.

India also agreed to  spend Rs 15.73 billion to upgrade the 51-km stretch of road from Akhaura zero point on the Indo-Bangla border to Ashuganj river port to a four-lane route to facilitate communications between Agartala and Dhaka.  

Former Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran had asked the government to provide land and logistic support for early completion of connectivity projects to facilitate overall development of trade and commerce in Southeast Asia.

India wants to get the transit and transshipment facility mainly for carrying cargos to its 'seven-sister states' of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.

According to sources, the cost of transporting goods to Agartala from Kolkata now is US$ 67 per tonne and it takes 30 days for trucks to reach there. But if the trucks travel through the Kolkata-Ashuganj-Agartala route, the cost would be a maximum of $35 per tonne and travel time around 10 days.

Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Mozammel Haque told the FE that permission would be given on any such application for transit or transshipment as soon as BIWTA gets it.

"We are committed to offering transshipment facility under the India- Bangladesh Trade Agreement," said Mr Haque.

Against per-tonne goods Bangladesh will get Tk 192.22 as transit fee. Of the total sum the NBR will collect Tk 130 per tonne as customs-related charges, the Road Transport and Highways Division will collect Tk 52.22 per tonne, and BIWTA will take Tk 10 a tonne as supervision charge. An additional Tk 100 per tonne will be charged as escort fee if a vessel owner seeks special security for the goods in transit. 

mzrbd@yahoo.com,

syful-islam@outlook.com 

 

 


 

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