A trade body identifies challenges like long delays during shipment of Bangladeshi products to India at Benapole-Petrapole land port mainly due to the prevailing single-road facility.
The India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IBCCI) recently requested the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to take immediate steps to this end.
The bureau suggests that commerce ministry hold an inter-ministerial meeting to address these obstacles as different ministries are involved in exporting Bangladeshi goods to the neighbouring country.
The Indo-Bangla chamber has also suggested introducing a second link road to make export-import activities better at the port in question.
There is huge congestion for export-import shipments at Benapole-Petrapole port largely due to the single road for goods movement, it mentioned.
The chamber seeks an EPB office at Benapole to expedite issuing SAFTA certificate and a private inland container depot (ICD) at Benapole to attract more trade from Bangladesh.
It also recommends establishing a railway ICD at Benapole with the help of India to reduce harassment in rail cargo shipment.
The IBCCI wants to allow Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to act for quick movement of Petrapole-bound trucks.
Necessary measures should also be needed to allow quick movement of Benapole-bound trucks.
The chamber deems it necessary to take required steps to operate the port for 24 hours effectively which was directed by both Bangladesh and Indian prime ministers.
The Indian Border Security Force used to take 10-l5 minutes time to check each Benapole-bound truck, according to a source at the chamber.
Among the South Asian markets, India is the key destination of Bangladeshi products, followed by Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
India's import of Bangladeshi goods crossed the $1.0-billion mark for the first time in fiscal year (FY) 2018-2019.
Bangladesh exported goods worth $1.28 billion to India in FY 2020-2021, according to the EPB data.
