Maia Port
New Delhi: To boost trade and connectivity between India and Bangladesh, the first trial movement of vessels between Maia Port in India and Sultanganj Port in Bangladesh on Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route number 5 & 6 is set to take place on February 12, 2024.
The vessels will be flagged off by the Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur, from Maia Inland Customs Port in West Bengal at 10:30 AM, as part of India’s Act East Policy.
The waterway route from Maia (IBP route) to Assam’s Dhubri (National Waterways-2) via Aricha (Bangladesh) will reduce the distance by around 930 kilometres compared to the existing waterway route from Dhulian-Maia-Kolkata-IBP-Dhubri. With this move, 2.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of export cargo to Bangladesh is expected to shift from roads to waterways.
The riverine distance between the Port of Call Maia in Murshidabad district of West Bengal in India and the Port of Call Sultanganj in Bangladesh is 16 kilometres, out of which 4.5 kilometres of waterways are in India and the rest 11.5 kilometres are in Bangladesh.
The flagging-off event will be attended by transport and state transport ministers of the West Bengal government, along with the Member of Parliament from Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency and members of the state legislature from Raghunathganj and Lalgola legislative constituencies, as well as other dignitaries.
It may be mentioned that during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India from September 5-8, 2023, the two sides agreed to expeditiously explore the direct shipping links between the two countries. They also agreed to implement the decision to start riverine services under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) routes 5 & 6 (Dhulian to Rajshahi -extension to Aricha) and 9 & 10 (Daudkandi to Sonamura).
