Business Desk :
The political turmoil in Bangladesh has cast a shadow over the Indo-Bangla trade through Land Customs Stations in Tripura, reports the ‘ Assam Tribune” from Agartala.
Quoting official sources, the premier daily from northeast India says the latest figure of trade volume for the year 2013-14 fiscal is unlikely to touch the previous fiscal’s figure- Rs 343.06 crore.
The export-import between two sides has started scaling up since 2010-11 FY when trade volume of Rs 255.60 crore was reported following a serious of trade friendly measures.
During the 2011-2012 FY, India-Bangladesh trade through Tripura shot up to Rs 330.60 crore.
It was expected that the trade volume would increase many folds folds after the Integrated Customs Station (ICP) came up at Akhaura last year.
It seems, the recent political unrest in Bangladesh has adversely affected the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Tripura which shares 856 km international border.
Reports said the bilateral trade volume stands at Rs 182.50 crore until November 2014, barely half of where it stood at the same time last year.
The unrest in Bangladesh and downfall in the face value of Indian currency against US dollar have contributed to a fall in the export-import trade volume, said Habul Biswas, president of Tripura Exporters’-Importers Association.
“In fact, the bilateral trade was stalled for three months due to strikes and blockades in Bangladesh. Now, the normal trade has started to pick up again,” he said.
However, abrupt hike in the handling charge by the Landport Authority of India (LAI) also appears to be a problem for exporters and importers here. “We have taken up the issue with the LAI authority. A top official of the LAI will come down here to hold meeting with exporters and importers very shortly”, he added.
Apart from Akhaura ICP, Indo-Bangla trade is taking place at five Land Customs Stations – Raghna (Dharmanagar), Khowai, Srimantapur (Sonamura), Muhurighat (Belonia) and Kailashahar.
