Bangladeshi traders have started shopping for more commodities from India, as moving goods through the coastal route would lead to cost and time savings.Besides, the commodities get insurance coverage and are insured against pilferage, theft or damages.Currently, the Bangladeshi traders’ wish list includes tyres from Chennai, cotton, chillies and tobacco (from Guntur) and textile machineries (from Coimbatore). Besides, Bangladesh imports from India iron and steel, sugar and cereals, glass and glassware, vehicles, equipment, aluminium, plastics, copper and utensils made of base metal.As of now, tyres and textile machineries are sent to Colombo/Singapore and then to Chittagong, while other commodities are moved through rail or road from different parts of the country.Due to increased volume, rail and road traffic is facing congestion on the Indo-Bangladesh border leading to payment of surcharge. Traders from both nations have been searching for an alternative source to save on time and additional cost.An Indian exporter said that moving commodities from Krishnapatnam to Chittagong or Pangaon Inland Container Terminal would cut the delivery time from 25-30 days to 7 days. The cost savings would be approximately $300 per container. It would go up to $1,000 per box with a pick up in the volume.After a gap of nearly four decades, India and Bangladesh have started a direct container feeder service. On the maiden voyage, MV Harbour-1 carried 40 containers of Guntur cotton.Enthused by the response, cargo vessel operator Neepa Paribahan announced the rollout of weekly service through MV Shamayel from April 2016.Talking to The Hindu , Krishnapatnam Port Director Vinita Venkatesh said: “Cotton is moved through 20,000 forty-foot containers from Mundra port, Guntur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh through road.” –The Hindu Krishnapatnam Port on India’s East Coast recently handled the first vessel to sail following the implementation of a coastal shipping agreement designed to facilitate trade between India and Bangladesh.Harbour-1 is the first Bangladeshi-owned container vessel to have received permission from the shipping departments of both countries to operate a streamlined, and less bureaucratic service.Chinta Sasidhar, managing director, Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd (KPCL), said, “Besides improved connectivity, the service will play a vital role in decongesting the border points and bringing down the cost and transit time involved, thereby providing the best competitive freight rates to the advantage of the industry.”Under the new arrangements vessels of both countries, upon entry to ports in India and Bangladesh, will in future be treated as domestic and not foreign vessels.The all-water services are expected to help ease traffic congestion at Petrapole in India and Benapole, Bangladesh, the two land border points, and also to reduce transit times for cargo moving between India and Bangladesh.As part of the agreement, both countries have also agreed to reduce customs documentation and other requirements to a minimum to facilitate cargo movement. ?The Hindu/The Maritime Standard
