Bangladesh developing four land ports to increase trade with India

14 Aug 2017

The Bangladesh government has undertaken a new project to improve the infrastructure of three land ports in order to raise trade with India. The three ports are – Shaola of Sylhet district, Bhomra in Satkhira district, and Ramgarh in Khagrachari. The security system of Benapole land port under the project will also be modernized.

Minister of Planning Ministry of Bangladesh AHM Mustafa Kamal said that increasing immigration and customs facilities will be enhanced through the development of necessary infrastructure under Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project-1 to increase trade and commerce with India.

Kamal said, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has already approved a project of Taka 693 crore. Bangladesh Land Port Authority will implement a project by June 2021. According to the development project, in 2015, the Sheola custom station was declared a land port in Bianibazar upazila of Sylhet district.

Infrastructure will be developed for increasing export and import activities by Sutarakandi port in Karimganj district of Assam State in India.

Besides, the activities of Bhomra port started in 2013. Open yards, warehouses, and other infrastructure have been developed for this. After the commissioning of the Padma Bridge, the flow of cargo will increase further. For this, the infrastructure will be further extended to the port. Due to the distance being reduced with Kolkata, this port will increase communication and traffic movement.

On the other hand, the importance of Ramgarh land port will be increased in the Ramgarh upazila of Khagrachari district, pertaining to trade with India’s Tripura state.

Benapole land port is more important to Bangladesh as the government is implementing Benapole and Burimari Land Port Development SASEC Road Connectivity Project. However, Benapole’s security system is not included in this project. It will be included in a new project. To strengthen Benapole port security, modern security measures will be taken and boundary walls will be built here.

In the direction of regional trade, Bangladesh has 23 land ports with India’s 4,095 kilometers, and Myanmar’s 256 kilometer long border.

Source-indiatoday