The revenue of Nakugaon Land Port in Sherpur’s Nalitabari upazila is dropping as traders are unable to import stone and coal as per demand due to the dollar crisis and lack of a Letter of Credit (LC).
According to port sources, the income of the port decreased by Tk 71,57,995 and the revenue of customs decreased by Tk 1,62,01,000 in FY 2022-23 due to the decrease in goods import.
After it was declared as a full-fledged land port on December 12, 2009, and with further infrastructure development, 18 products are supposed to be imported, but currently, only stone is being imported through this port.
With the drop in the port’s income, the government’s revenue collection has also decreased.
Meanwhile, due to the lack of import activities, traders are losing interest in investing in businesses.
In FY2021-22, about Tk 41 crore worth of goods were imported through the port which dropped to about Tk 29 crore in FY23.
According to the port authority, traders imported 58,816 tonnes of stone from Bhutan, 2,07,986 tonnes of stone from India and 9,393 tonnes of coal through this port in FY22.
The estimated value of which was Tk 40,99,04,000. In FY22, the income of Nakugaon land port including port dues and VAT was Tk 3,32,64,047 and the revenue accumulated in customs was Tk 7,35,85,000.
In FY23, Bangladeshi traders imported 57,193 tonnes of stone from Bhutan, 1,54,585 tonnes of stone from India, 1,387 tonnes of coal and 11 tonnes of ginger.
The estimated value of which is Tk 28,71,54,000. The port’s income including duty and VAT is Tk 2,61,06,052 and the revenue collected from the customs authority is Tk 5,73,84,000.
Mostafizur Rahman Mukul, president of Nakugaon Land Port Import-Export Association said, “If we can start exporting products according to demand along with import to increase business, it will be beneficial. However, despite the interest of Indian businessmen, it is still not possible due to India’s customs complications.”
He further said, not all approved products can be imported.
“Because the businessmen from different areas of the country have very little interest in increasing the business centred on Nakugaon. We are not getting the opportunity to supply the approved products despite repeated requests to the National Board of Revenue (NBR),” he added.
Mostafizur went on to add that due to the global recession which led to the dollar crisis and lack of LC in the last financial year it was not possible to import products. This led to decreased income for the port.
About Nakugaon Land Port
After being closed for 33 years, Nakugaon immigration check post of Nalitabari upazila of Sherpur district on the northern border of the country was first opened as a land customs port in 1997. The port became very prosperous through the importation of coal.
It also created employment opportunities for thousands of people in the region. But in 2002, the import of all goods except coal and stone was stopped through this port.
Later, on December 12, 2009, then Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan, MP, inspected the port and declared it a full-fledged land port. Then on December 31, 2011, he laid the foundation stone of the full-fledged port infrastructure in the Nakugaon area.
Internal infrastructure works including a warehouse and customs building were built at a cost of about Tk 16.5 crores on 13.5 acres of land.
Besides, a 29.5-kilometre road ranging from Nakugaon to Nokla has developed at around Tk 250 crore for the ease of communication of the port. The port started its activities under Bangladesh Land Port Authority’s management on June 19, 2015.
Import of 18 conventional and non-conventional products including stone and coal was allowed via the port.
However, despite the infrastructural development of the port in eight long years, the importers here are not getting the benefits of a full-fledged land port. Traders claim that the development work will go in vain if other products are not imported.
They demanded to start importing dried fish, mustard cake, betel nut and animal fodder from India’s Meghalaya state.
A delegation from the Land Port Authority and the Ministry of Commerce recently visited the land port to speed up the operations. They urged businessmen to come forward along with the government to increase business.
Meanwhile, the port authority said that the port is being made more dynamic with the cooperation and permission of the higher authorities through the coordination of traders.
Nakugaon Land Port official Partha Ghosh said, “We are trying our best about increasing imports. Traders need to be more sincere to increase business. If more traders come forward to import products, the business will grow further.”
Nakugaon Customs Revenue Officer Shahidul Islam said traders were unable to get LC due to the global recession and increasing dollar prices.
“Without LC they could not import goods. However, imports have increased since January towards the end of the last financial year but the overall revenue is less compared to the previous year,” he said, adding that they are working regularly to overcome this problem.
