Hili Land Port collects revenue over Tk 213 crore in six months

In the first six months of FY23 Tk 213.13 crore revenue was collected in Hili Land Port, Dinajpur, said port customs sources.

According to official sources, the revenue collection target set by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the first 6 months (July to December) of the current fiscal year 2022-23 was Tk 300.6 crore.

Import-export trade has decreased through the Hili Land Port significantly in the last few months.

Importers said business has decreased due to a lack of Letter of Credit (LC) caused by the dollar crisis. Meanwhile, the labourers working in the port are passing workless days due to a lack of work.

Md Saiful Islam, an importer of Hili port, said various products including rice, wheat, corn, stone, sugar, wheat husk, corn seeds, ginger, garlic, and mixer machines are imported regularly through the port.

“But due to the dollar crunch over the past few months, banks have restricted LCs which has led to reduced imports. Importers are not able to import products as per demand,” he said.

Importer Md Rashedul Islam said, “Many products were exported from Bangladesh, including spring onions, vegetables, garment scraps, and jute sacks. However, even the export of these products has decreased recently.”

A labourer in the area Md Arshad Ali said due to the lack of work their wages have gone down from Tk 500-700 to Tk 250-400 per day.

Hili Customs C&F Agent Association’s Port Commissioner Secretary Md Rabiul Islam Sweet said the fact that the road from Hili to Balurghat across the border is narrow and unsuitable for cargo trucks to move properly has played a part in importers decreasing their trade alongside the dollar crisis.

Md Sohrab Hossain Mollik, public relations officer of Panama Hili Port Link Limited, said even a few months ago, 200 to 250 Indian cargo trucks came in through the port daily. However, the number has gone down to 80-130 trucks daily as imports have lessened.