Now northeast India connected via new river route

Premier Cement, a cement manufacturer in Bangladesh, became the maiden exporter to India's north-eastern state of Tripura through a new river route in a development that is expected to boost cross-border trade and connectivity.

The consignment of 50 tonnes of the key construction material loaded onto MV Premier left Daudkandi on Thursday night. This was the first-ever export consignment from Bangladesh to Tripura through the inland waterways.

The consignment reached Tripura at around 11pm on Friday. The vessel crossed the border from Daudkandi in Comilla via Bibirbazar in the same district through the Gumti river.

The goods will be unloaded in Sonamura in Sepahijala district, 60 kilometres from Agartala, the capital of Tripura.

The export came after the 93-kilometre stretch inland waterways on the Sonamura-Daudkandi route that connects Tripura to Bangladesh was included in the list of India-Bangla protocol (IBP) routes in May.

"This is a proud moment as Premier Cement became the first exporter to use the riverine route," said Mohammed Amirul Haque, managing director of Premier Cement.

Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury told The Daily Star that through the trial shipment, new opportunities for Bangladesh to do business with India will open.

"Both sides need to develop physical infrastructures to continue shipping goods through the route. After this trial we will know what type of infrastructure development is needed," he said.

Chowdhury hopes that the initiative will bring good results towards boosting bilateral trade and the route will become a vital part of the trade with India's north-eastern states.

Biplab Kumar Deb, chief minister of Tripura in a tweet on Thursday night, said, "With the successful run, Indo-Bangla waterways will open up new avenues for economic development in both the countries where Tripura will play an important role."

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) earlier approved the export of goods on a trial basis.

Commodore Golam Sadeq, chairman of the BIWTA, said the trial has been fruitful. "Now is the time to remove obstacles to pave the way for regular commercial vessel movement."

"We will have to conduct dredging in the Gumti river to remove barriers and complete the construction work of a rail bridge over the river," he said.

A high-level team from the shipping ministry of Bangladesh surveyed the riverine protocol route for viability on August 12.

According to Sadeq, a project proposal has been sent to the planning commission to improve the navigability of the Gumti and to protect the river's banks. The estimated cost of the project is Tk 700 crore.

He is hopeful to operate commercial vessels on a regular basis within the next two years.

Haque said that Indian traders will benefit from the new waterway as carrying costs will come down by 50 per cent. Shipments can also be sent even during the dry season by simply dredging the certain parts of the river on a regular basis.

About 5 per cent of the country's total cement production head to the north-eastern states of India through Akhaura land port.

Md Shahidullah, managing director of Metrocem Cement, said the move would help reduce transport costs in exporting bulk amounts of cement to Tripura and other north-eastern states.

In July, Deb said the project would boost Indo-Bangla bilateral trade making Tripura a key trade hub in the northeast region.

He predicted that the export volume would increase from 30 crore rupees to 400 crore rupees and the state would import goods worth of 2,000 crore rupees, according to an article of the Hindustan Times.

Currently, goods worth 645 crore rupees are imported.

The All Tripura Merchant Association sees hope in the waterways project, saying that imported goods from Bangladesh would be available at affordable rates, according to the Hindustan Times.

Tripura had set up a floating jetty on the river on July 4 as part of the connectivity project.

India's Northeast has secured an outlet through the rivers of Bangladesh in a development that will have far-reaching implications for the economy of the landlocked region, according to The Diplomat magazine.

The arrangement reduced the distance between Kolkata and Agartala from 1,600 to 600 kilometres. Its use would therefore help decrease prices of essential commodities, Deb told reporters, the magazine reported recently.