Bangladeshi products will be transported to India on Indian container trains.
After unloading their exportable items here, the trains will carry the Bangladeshi products on the return trip.
The goods-carrying trains will be operated on two routes between Bangladesh and India: Darshana-Gede and Benapole-Petrapole.
The Indian central board of indirect taxes and customs under the Ministry of Finance issued an order in this regard on May 17.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently asked the authorities concerned to take steps for implementing the decision.
The Ministry of Commerce and NBR officials as well as traders expect that the system of exporting goods to India with container trains would be cost-effective, comfortable and easier. It would also lessen shipment cost of the country's exportables.
In March, 13th meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Group of Customs presented the issue as an agenda. Following this, the Indian authorities concerned gave the nod to export Bangladeshi goods to India using container trains, said the officials.
Bangladesh and India have been discussing the issue for years to reach a consensus, they added.
The High Commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi has pointed to the Indian authorities that the rail containers going from India to Bangladesh are returning empty after delivering goods.
Besides, Bangladeshi companies have expressed interest to use the empty containers to export their products to India.
Indian ministries and various business bodies have raised voice over importing Bangladeshi goods by rail.
"Bangladesh entails using empty containers returning from the country after delivering Indian export goods," said the Indian order.
"The carrier will be the trains of Indian Railways plying between India and Bangladesh - carrying India's containerised export goods to Bangladesh (forward journey) and returning with Bangladesh's export goods in the same containers to India (return journey)."
In both forward and return journeys, the trains will cross the international border through Petrapole-Benapole and Gede-Darshana rail-routes using the specified land customs stations, according to the order.
"It has been decided that the empty containers returning from Bangladesh to India on a train may be utilised to carry export goods of Bangladesh to India," it added.
The volume of Bangladesh's export to India stood at around US$2.0 billion, according to the EPB.
There are nine railway points between Bangladesh and India, of which five are currently operational.
