Tripura trade body welcomes port curbs on Bangladesh imports

Agartala: An organisation of businessmen and traders in Tripura on Monday welcomed the Centre's decision to impose port restrictions on imports of certain goods from Bangladesh and said the national interest comes first above anything else.

Bangladeshi exporters, who send goods in substantial quantities through land ports, will be the losers in view of the Central government's move, Tripura Chamber of Trade and Business (TCTB) general secretary Rajat Paul said.

The central government had on Saturday imposed port restrictions on the import of a few Bangladeshi goods, such as readymade garments and processed food items, in response to similar curbs placed by Dhaka on certain Indian products last month.

However, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in its notification, said the port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India but destined for Nepal and Bhutan.

"We welcome the DGFT restriction on imports of certain goods from Bangladesh because the country's interest comes first above anything else. Bangladeshi exporters, who send substantial goods through land ports, will be the maximum losers, following the move", Paul said.

He said around 28 cement manufacturing factories are functioning in Bangladesh's Comilla and Brahmanbaria, and supplying huge quantities of the construction material to the northeastern states.

Besides, Bangladesh traders have started supplying corrugated sheets to the northeastern states, he said, adding, they will not be able to do the same after the curbs imposed by DGFT.

Tripura imported goods worth Rs 636.72 crore from Bangladesh during the 2022-23 financial year and Rs 703.67 crore in the 2023-24 fiscal.

The northeastern state's exports stood at only Rs 121.37 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 12.31 FY'24.

Tripura shares an 856-km-long border with Bangladesh and has five functional land ports.