India and Bangladesh on Monday flagged off the first trial movement of ships between the port of Maia in India and the port of Sultanganj in Bangladesh under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP).
On the Indian side, Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shantanu Thakur inaugurated the Maia river port in Murshidabad, West Bengal, while his counterpart Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the Sultanpur port in Rajshahi.
“The new route will boost trade and connectivity between the two countries. The new route is in line with the Act East Policy of the Narendra Modi’s government,” Thakur said.
“The waterway route from Maia (IBP route) to Dhubri (NW-2) via Aricha will reduce the distance by around 930 kilometers compared to the existing waterway route from Dhulian-Maia-Kolkata-IBP-Dhubri. With this move, 2.6 MTPA of export cargo to Bangladesh is expected to shift from road to waterways,” read the statement issued by India’s port and shipping ministry.
“The route will allow transportation of 200-300 tonnes of goods during the dry season, and 2,000-3,000 tonnes of cargo in good season,” Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Assistant Engineer Shah Alam told local media.
Shah Alam also said that a small ship carrying two tonnes of cotton will leave Sultanpur port for Maya port on Monday.