International Waterway Trade Resumes from Dibrugarh to Bangladesh
International waterway trade between Dibrugarh and Bangladesh is set to resume, with methanol produced at Namrup in Assam being exported to Dhaka via the Brahmaputra River.
For the first time since Independence, preparations have been completed for a cargo vessel to sail from the Bogibeel Inland Water Transport Terminal to a foreign destination. The development is expected to revive international commercial activity along the Brahmaputra waterway.
Methanol produced by Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL) at Namrup will be transported by waterway to Dhaka. Two cargo vessels have been readied for the operation. Each vessel will carry 27 containers, with 20 tonnes of methanol in each container. This means each vessel will transport 540 tonnes, while the two vessels together will carry a total of 1,080 tonnes of methanol.
The vessels are expected to take around seven days to cover the approximately 783-kilometre waterway from Bogibeel to the Bangladesh border.
The Bogibeel Inland Water Transport Terminal has already been prepared for commercial cargo movement. Customs facilities, a jetty and warehousing infrastructure have been established at the terminal. Work is also underway to construct a lighthouse and a Regional Centre of Excellence.
Once the waterway becomes fully operational for commercial trade, it could provide greater opportunities to transport products manufactured by BCPL, petroleum products, coal and tea-related goods to international markets. Agricultural products from Assam, including lemon, bhut jolokia and black pepper, could also gain a new route to overseas markets.
Dibrugarh was once an important centre of riverine trade during British rule, when cargo vessels operated by the East India Company transported goods through the Brahmaputra to different parts of the country and abroad. Nearly eight decades later, the new terminal at Bogibeel is set to reopen a significant chapter in the region’s waterway trade.
According to APCL Chairman Bikul Deka, the company leased two vessels belonging to the Assam government’s Inland Water Transport Department that had remained unused for nearly 30 years. The vessels were subsequently repaired at Pandu Ghat in Guwahati.
Following the repairs, a plan was developed to export methanol produced at Namrup to Dhaka through the Bogibeel terminal.
The initiative is expected to create new possibilities for low-cost cargo transportation through the Brahmaputra and expand Assam’s potential for international import and export trade.
