World trade strengthens as cargo trucks between India and Bangladesh now take just three days to cross

Good news for transporters who are engaged in transporting consignments from Petrapole Port in West Bengal to Benapole Port in Bangladesh. This crossover used to take over one month but now due to the efforts of the West Bengal Government, the time is reduced to merely 3 days.

The WB Government has handed over the responsibility of the parking lot to the Department of Transport from the Bangaon Municipality.

The Vice president of Benapole Port Import–Export Association, Mr. Aminul Haque, said that a cargo truck used to be stuck for over 30 days in the parking lot after entering Petrapole Port in India and could move only if they could pay the extra money asked, but after the change of hands from the municipality to transport department, now a cargo truck reaches Bangladesh with ease and that too within days. He further added that the truck drivers mentioned that around 9000 cargo trucks used to be in line waiting to enter Bangladesh port from the Kalitala parking lot. Now, as the traffic is eased, the truck line has also come down from 9000 to 1500,
This new development has helped the two countries’ businesses. Said Kamal Hossain, Vice President of Benapole C&F Staff Association. He also pointed out that the service charge of India’s transport department for each truck had been set at Rs. 10,000, which could be reduced to benefit importers.

Another new development is that the West Bengal government has introduced online slot booking. This helps transporters to book slots and cross the border within that time. Because of this new advantage, cargo trucks from any province of India reach Beanpole within two to max three days after arriving in Kolkata.

Kartik Chakraborty, General Secretary of the C&F Staff Welfare Association in Petrapole, said that the port is quite active with moving cargo trucks and vehicles now reaching Bangladesh within two to three days as fake entries have been completely stopped.