The waterway route
from Maia (IBP route) to Dhubri (NW-2) via Aricha will reduce the distance by
about 930 km.
The vessel carryingstone aggregateswill be flagged off
from Maia Inland Customs Port 2.6 MTPA of cargo to Bangladesh is expected to
shift from road to waterways
India-Bangladesh
relations have evolved across various domains, including
political, economic, cultural, and strategic ties over the years. Now, to boost
trade and connectivity between India and Bangladesh, the first trial movement
of vessels between Maia Port in India and Sultanganj Port in Bangladesh on Indo
Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) Route no. 5 & 6 is set to take place on February
12, 2024.
The vessels will be flagged off by the Minister of
State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Shri Shantanu Thakur, from Maia
Inland Customs Port in West Bengal at 10:30 AM. This development is in line
with the Act East Policy of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s
government.
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.
The riverine distance between Port of Call Maia in
India and Port of Call Sultanganj in Bangladesh is 16 kilometers, out of which
4.5 kilometers of waterways are in India and the rest 11.5 kilometers are in
Bangladesh.
The flagging-off event will be attended by transport
and state transport ministers of the West Bengal government, along with the
Member of Parliament from JangipurLok Sabha constituency and Members of the
state legislature from Raghunathganj and Lalgola legislative constituencies, as
well as other dignitaries
H.E. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government
of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, paid a State Visit to India from 05-08
September 2022 at the invitation of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. During the visit, the two sides also
agreed to expeditiously explore direct shipping links between the two countries.
They also agreed to implement the decision to start riverine services under the
Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) routes 5 & 6 (Dhulian to
Rajshahi -extension to Aricha) and 9 & 10 (Daudkandi to Sonamura)