Home ›› 18 Aug 2022 ›› Nation
The Banglabandha land port, located at the zero point of Tentulia in Panchagarh connecting India Nepal and Bhutan, has created huge opportunities to drive the wheel of the national economy.
Kudrat-i-Khuda Milon, general secretary of Banglabandha Land Port Import-Export Group said the government is earning handsome revenue as the trade volume has increased.
Jobs have been created for hundreds of hard-core people of the region and the business community is being befitted due to the operation of the inland port.
Moreover, a huge number of patients, tourists, and businessmen of the country are going to India through the port to meet their respective needs. Students and tourists from Nepal, Bhutan, and India are getting easy access to Bangladesh through the land port.
The inland port was set up on ten acres of land on the bank of Mahananda River adjacent to the Indian Territory which has great importance in the context of geopolitical background.
It has become a hub of job generation and a source of earning foreign exchange.
The port was inaugurated in 1997 with direct trade between Bangladesh and Nepal. Later the trade was extended with India and Bhutan.
The land port, which started immigration services in February 2016, offers tourists hassle-free exit and entry to Phulbari land port in Jalpaiguri of West Bengal, India.
On an average daily, hundreds of Bangladeshis, who are mostly from adjacent north-western districts, use the crossing to go to India—primarily for medical treatment.
People’s movement through the port was restricted from March 2020 due to the increase in coronavirus cases. However, in April 2022, immigration started again. A huge consignment from India, Nepal and Bhutan runs every day through the port.
Moreover, the port’s connection with the Asian Highway has created a dimension to develop networking – communication, and international trade which has helped increase the growth of the national economy and created opportunities for tourism.
The import volume was 16,55,726 tonnes of products in July-2021 through the port worth around Tk 1,500 crore while the export volume was around Tk 927 crore.
The government earned Tk 21.46 crore revenue in the fiscal year of 2019-20 while it earned more than Tk 63 crore in the next fiscal year. It also collected Tk 41.64 crore of revenue in the year 2021-22 through the port.
The country usually imports stone, maize, railway-slipper, ginger, fruits from India and yarn, and pulse from Nepal and Bhutan while it exports Jute, glass-sheet, medicine, bag, garments and food items to the countries.
Manager and port-in-charge Abul Kalam Azad said the inland port has importance from the strategic point of view as trade and commerce is running between four countries through the port.
He also said the inland port has a great prospect as the import and export volumes are increasing every year.
The area of ten acres of land of the port cannot accommodate the growth of the business. So, the government has taken a step to acquire more than 16.5 acres of land to extend the capacity of the inland port area.
Senior Vice President, Panchagarh Chamber of Commerce & Industry who was also the president of Banglabandha inland port Customs Clearing & Forwarding Agents Association president, Rezaul Islam Reza said, the port is a three-way trading post which was designed to be Bangladesh’s first ‘export-oriented’ inland port that promotes the transport of Bangladeshi products to Nepal, India, and Bhutan. The other inland ports of the country are mainly used to import goods from India.
