Lowest transit fee set at Tk 589 per tonne for Indian goods

Bangladesh will charge at least Tk 589 for the transportation of a tonne of Indian goods to the north-eastern states from the mainland of India through Mongla and Chattogram ports as Dhaka offers regular transit facility to the neighbouring country. 

Apart from the transit fee, there would be a charge for using the roads of each kilometre and it would be Tk 1.85 per tonne, according to a gazette of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued on Monday.

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The document processing fee would be Tk 30, the security charge has been fixed at Tk 100, the administrative fee would be Tk 100, and the transhipment fee has been set at Tk 20 for each tonne in each shipment.

The escort charge for each container, truck, trailer, or covered van would be Tk 85 per kilometre. A certain amount of fees for the electric lock and seal will also be paid, it said.

A 15 per cent value-added tax on the fees will be applied, the NBR added.

Sixteen routes were given the approval for the transit of Indian goods using Mongla and Chattogram ports.

The latest order from the NBR comes after four trials of transiting Indian goods from Kolkata to north-eastern states through seaports of Bangladesh were completed last year.

The first trial run took place in July 2020 through the Chattogram port.

New Delhi has long sought the transhipment facilities from Bangladesh in order to cut time and costs to move goods from mainland India to its northeastern states.

This is because trucks from Kolkata have to travel about 1,600 kilometres to reach Agartala in Tripura, one of the seven northeastern states. If the trucks use Bangladeshi river and road networks, the distance would come down to about 800 kilometres.

In 2015, the two countries, which share the fifth longest border in the world spanning 4,096 kms, inked an initial transhipment deal involving the use of Bangladesh's four riverways, followed by a detailed agreement in 2018 involving the two sea ports.

The agreement is expected to further strengthen Bangladesh's friendship and economic ties with India.