The industry of the North East is euphoric with Bangladesh government agreeing to grant access to Mongla and Chittagong ports for movement of goods to and from India.
The agreement to grant access reached during the recent visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi. In exchange, India agreed in principle to grant transit access to Nepal and Bhutan to Bangladesh through its territory. Chittagong port is just 80 kms from Sabroom, the last settlement on Indian side in Tripura.
The decision came close on the heels of Bangladesh granting access to Ashuganj port, which is 30 kms from Agartala, which was reached during the visit of Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni’s visit to New Delhi in September last year.
Access to Chittagong port will remove the connectivity deficiency that the industry of North Eastern Region has always been facing.
The industry of Tripura is expected to reap the maximum benefit due to its proximity to all the three ports which are Chittagong, Ashuganj and Mongla.
According to ML Debnath, president of Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), rubber, bamboo, food processing industry are the sectors which are expected to reap maximum advantage once the access to ports materialises.
The access to ports would also mean faster and reliable mode of communication with mainland India to import raw materials and machineries and export finished goods, said Debnath.
The Tripura government is presently coming up with an export promotion park and when access to the ports materialises, it would mean enhanced economic activity for the state as the transportation bottleneck to export products would cease.
It was also agreed that Ashuganj port in Bangladesh and Silghat port in Assam would be declared ‘ports-of-call’. The Indian Railways has also agreed to connect Akaura, the border point between Bangladesh and Tripura, with state capital Agartala to provide railway connectivity for transportation of goods. Later, the rail link will be aligned to one on Bangladesh's side which will provide connectivity up to Ashuganj.
The access has also come as a great relief for heavy industries in the region for they can ship their over dimensional consignments (ODCs) through waterways via Bangladesh without much hindrances now. Movement of ODCs for big projects has always been a problem in North-East due to its hilly terrains. Recently, ONGC decided to ship ODCs via Bangladesh for its upcoming power project in south Tripura. The Assam Gas Cracker Project too is contemplating taking the water route via Bangladesh.
