Remarks by Deputy High Commissioner of India, Dr. Adarsh Swaika at a seminar on ‘Addressing Land Port Issues for Better Indo-Bangla Trade’, 29 April 2018, Dhaka

H.E. Mr. Shahjahan Khan, MP, Hon’ble Minister for Shipping, Government of Bangladesh

Mr. Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President, India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Mr. M. Shoeb Chowdhury, Vice President, India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Panelists for the business session today:

Mr. Bipul Chatterjee, Executive Director of CUTS International, India and also the keynote speaker for the seminar today

Ambassador Tariq Karim, former High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India

Mr. Tapan Kumar Chakravorty, Chairman, Bangladesh Land Port Authority

Prof. Syed Munir Khasru, Chairman, Institute for Policy Advocacy & Government

Mr. Motiar Rahman, Chairman, IBCCI Sub-committee on imports-exports

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am very happy to be here for the inauguration of the seminar on issues related to Land Customs Stations (LCSs) or Land Ports (as per the nomenclature used in Bangladesh) on the India-Bangladesh border.

2. Around 50% of India-Bangladesh trade takes place through Land Ports. In the year 2016-17, the Petrapole-Benapole Land Port alone accounted for 37% of the total trade between the two countries. It shows the importance of Land Ports in facilitating bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh.

2. Recognizing this, Government of India has initiated the upgradation of infrastructure at our Land Customs Stations. We have already converted our Land Customs Stations at Petrapole and Agartala into Integrated Check Posts which have state-of-the-art infrastructure for facilitating movement of cargo and, in case of Agartala, also of people. The idea behind construction of Integrated Check Posts is to bring different agencies/services such as customs, immigration, border security etc. under one integrated complex and facilitate seamless movement of goods and people. We plan to upgrade seven more Land Customs Stations into Integrated Check Posts at different points on the India-Bangladesh border. Work on upgrading the Dawki Land Customs Station on the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border is already underway.

2. I would like to highlight certain issues related to Land Ports for the consideration of the policymakers and the business community present here:

• Coordinated development of infrastructure: While both India and Bangladesh are working on improvement of infrastructure of their Land Ports, there is a need to coordinate these efforts so that there is no mismatch in capacity on the two sides of the border. For example, at Petrapole-Benapole, while the Indian side has improved the cargo handling capacity substantially, capacity on the Bangladesh side remains inadequate. This has led to congestion at the Port which increases the cost of transporting goods and adversely affects not only the business community but also the consumers in Bangladesh. Similarly, the infrastructure for passenger movement on the Bangladesh side is better than that on the Indian side. Given the importance of Petrapole-Benapole to bilateral trade and movement of passengers, it is important for us to ensure that both countries address deficiency on their side of the border at the earliest. Both Governments have recently reconstituted the India-Bangladesh Sub Group on LCS/ICP Infrastructure which is looking into these issues under the guidance of the heads of the Land Port Authorities of the two countries.

• Petrapole-Benapole Integrated Check Post/Land Port: I would like to make a few additional points on Petrapole-Benapole as it is the most important Land Port on our border. This port has been made operational 24x7 since August 2017. I must thank the Hon’ble Shipping Minister and other stakeholders in the Government of Bangladesh for successfully implementing this measure. This measure has reduced congestion at Petrapole-Benapole to some extent. However, the issue will be fully resolved after the Bangladesh Land Port Authority constructs a new Land Port there with augmented cargo handling capacity. While this will take some time, I would like to suggest some interim measures for easing congestion at Petrapole-Benapole:

• One-time push of two months by both sides to clear the congestion;

• Use higher rates of progressive port tariff which will disincentivize storage of cargo at Benapole’s warehouses by importers for longer periods and allow faster clearance of goods;

• Allow import of goods through other Land Ports which will alleviate pressure on Petrapole-Benapole Land Port – Many items such as chassis, fabrics etc etc. could be considered for clearing through Ports such as Ghojadanga (India) – Bhomra (Bangladesh) or Mahdipur (India) – Sonamasjid (Bangladesh). This will require National Board of Revenue to allow import of such items through other Land Ports.

• Facilitate movement of cargo through container trains: Shifting a part of the bilateral trade to rail route from the road route will also help ease pressure on Petrapole-Benapole. We have already had a successful trial run of a container train from Kolkata to Bangabandhu West Station earlier this month and we hope to operationalize the movement of container trains between India and Bangladesh shortly.

We are working with Government of Bangladesh on some of these measures and hope to see forward movement on the same.

• Proposal from India to develop infrastructure of Land Customs Stations on the Bangladesh side: While a large part of our overland trade is taking place on the western side, we also need to tap the potential that exists for trade between the Northeastern states of India and Bangladesh. In this regard, we would be happy to partner with Bangladesh in improving the infrastructure of Land Ports such as Akhaura on the Tripura-Bangladesh border.

5. I am certain that more inputs and recommendations on improving our Land Customs Stations/Land Ports would emerge from the discussion in the business session today. I would like to request the IBCCI to compile the suggestions from the business session so that they could be examined by the officials of both countries.
6. I would like to thank the Hon’ble Shipping Minister, H.E. Mr. Shahjahan Khan MP for taking time out from his busy schedule to attend the inauguration of the seminar today. He has been a great advocate of improving India-Bangladesh connectivity through inland waterways, coastal routes and over land. Under his guidance, we will continue to further work on these issues. I would also like to thank the panelists of the business session for being part of the seminar. Let me conclude by congratulating the IBCCI, led by its President, Mr. Abdul Matlub Ahmad for organizing the event.

Thank you.

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