The visit’s objective was to gain first-hand knowledge of technical feasibility, commercial viability and infrastructure facilities at the ports, a release from the Indian ministry of ports, shipping and waterways said.

The delegation’s visit to ports in Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata and Haldia was in line with agreed minutes of  the India-Bangladesh Shipping Secretaries Level Talks (SSLT) held in Dhaka in December last year.

Officials from the ministry, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the Director General of Shipping and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs accompanied the visiting delegation.

The delegation discussed the possibility of starting river cruise services between Dhaka and Vishakhapatnam.

IWAI director (traffic) A K Bansal informed the delegates that cruise service already exists on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and it can further be extended on coastal routes from Bangladesh to Vishakhapatnam and other ports on the East Coast.

The probability of returning cargo from Bangladesh to Haldia/Kolkata using inland vessels on the IBP route was also discussed during the visit.

The Bangladesh delegation, which identified several bottlenecks in trade using Indian ports, requested comparative reports on cost, time, cargo and facilities for exim trade from Indian East Coast ports versus Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang, Chittagong, Mongla and Pyra.

The Indian side requested details on commodity profiles and destination ports to facilitate the move.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)