India agrees to pay Rs 192 per tonne

India yesterday agreed to pay Bangladesh a transit fee of Rs 192.22 per tonne of goods to be transported from its Tripura state to Ashuganj port in Bangladesh.

The announcement came after a meeting between shipping secretaries of the two countries at a hotel here.

Indian Transport and Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar said the fee has been agreed upon on an "experimental basis" and this is "subject to review".

He said an extra Rs 50 would be charged for ensuring security to the goods to be transported through Bangladesh territory to Ashuganj port.

This means that India has accepted Bangladesh's proposal on the transit fees.

Fakhrul Islam, director general of Bangladesh's Department of Shipping, told The Daily Star that India would allow small and medium ships from Bangladesh to use Bandel river port in the Ganges near Kolkata to carry boulders for the construction of the proposed Padma bridge.

Bangladesh, he said, also wanted to use Kolkata port, but the Indian side said there are some issues that it would discuss and get back later.

Fakhrul also said India has agreed to allow Bangladeshi trucks to carry cargo up to the "discharge" point to Agartala, the capital city of Indian state of Tripura, avoiding transhipment at Akhaura on the border.

A day after signing a Standard Operating Procedure for implementing the coastal shipping for cargo, the two countries yesterday inked a similar deal for enforcing passenger and cruise service between them.

Replying to a question, Fakhrul said both coastal shipping in cargo and passenger movement were expected to start sometime next year.

He said goods by ships between Bangladesh and India could reach other's ports in maximum four to five days by ships under the coastal shipping agreement.

The sea and river ports to be connected under the agreement are Mongla, Chittagong, Paira, Khulna, Narayanganj, Ashuganj and Pangaon in Bangladesh and Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam, Paradip, Kakinada, Haldia and Kolkata in India.

Fakhrul said coastal shipping in cargo between the two countries could generate thousands of jobs for sailors and labourers in dockyards.