Bangladesh set to minimise delays faced by Indian barges

Bangladesh will look to arrive at solutions to the problem of delays faced by Indian barges at its ports, industry body Assocham said Friday quoting a top official. The india's neighbouring nation has given a positive indication on minimising delays faced by Indian barges at its ports, the statement said. India's shipping secretary Gopal Krishna during an event said Bangladesh had shown a very positive frame of mind on resolving this issue which is to the benefit of both, largely Bangladesh exporters and the spinoff would be to ship lines and to Indian ports, the Assocham statement said.

Krishna said: "Let me place on record that we had flagged this issue very prominently with Bangladesh side and also mentioned that it being a very huge exporter of garments but when we are visiting our ports, the constant demand is that delays in exports is costing Bangladesh economy orders."

The statement also said the shipping ministry is awaiting Revenue Department's response on allowing domesticated containers to carry exim cargo for exim routes. "We have taken this issue with Department of Revenue, generally they feel that they would also require to consult transportation stakeholders because lot of transporters use built-in containers and there could be an issue vis- -vis that mode," Krishna said addressing the meet. In her address, Director General Shipping Malini V Shankar said that while India's trade with Bangladesh has grown rapidly in the past few years, there are issues that need to be discussed so that participation of Indian ships in the coastal trade can be enhanced. "The possibility of allowing transportation of exim and transhipment cargo under the coastal shipping agreement needs to be explored," she said. "Similarly, the removal of limit of 6,000 GT (gross tonnage) for operation of vessels under the agreement also needs to be explored in order to encourage more and more number of vessels to engage in coastal shipping between the two countries," added DG Shipping.