Clothes of Rs 5 crore wait at border as 36 B’desh trucks caught in ‘no man’s land’
Times of India | 19 May 2025
Kolkata: As many as 36 garment-laden trucks have found themselves stranded between Bangladesh's Benapole and India's Petrapole borders, following a Saturday notification by the Union ministry of commerce and industry banning the entry of ready-made garments from the neighbouring cou-ntry through land ports. The trucks carry clothes worth nearly Rs 5.5 crore. Before the trucks were stopped at Petrapole, they had cleared all formalities at the Bangladesh checkpost.Following the ban, daily truck arrivals from across the border in North 24 Parganas dropped from 218 on Saturday to 140 till 7.30pm on Sunday, with the garment trucks out of the picture. Numbers had already been hit by an April ban on transshipment of garments from Bangladesh to a third country via Kolkata airport. The double ban would hit Bangladesh more than India, say experts, since the Rs 6,000-crore worth of garments imported from Bangladesh comprised 0.5% of Indian market."Around 93% of the garments from Bangladesh arrive via land route. Of this 80% enter through the Bengal border," said Sanjay Jain, chair of the national textile committee at the Indian Chamber of Commerce, and a lead exporter. Besides the garment exports, Bangladesh imports yarn, cloth, textile machinery, and other components from India.The neighbouring country can continue to use sea ports for doing business with India. However, the consignments can land only at Kolkata port or the Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai. Importers said most Indian traders were unlikely to use this route as it would be time-consuming and make inventory management a challenge. This may force Bangladeshi exporters to send the consignments by flights, which will further drive up logistics costs.Before the transshipment ban in April, almost 80-90 tonnes of made-in-Bangladesh garments used to be exported via Kolkata airport. The cost of air cargo from Kolkata, including the road transport from Dhaka to Kolkata, was around $3-3.5 per kg against the $5.5-6 per kg average air freight rate in Dhaka, making export via Kolkata airport a preferred choice among Bangladeshi garment exporters.Industry players are concerned about the souring relationship between the neighbours and the successive bans. "This trade embargo creates hurdles in business. International brands like Zara, H&M, Nike and Primark prefer Bangladesh due to its low cost of production owing to cheap labour. But if material costs go up, they may shift to Vietnam, Sri Lanka or China," said senior export-import logistics specialist and consultant Jaideep Raha.As many as 36 garment-laden trucks have found themselves stranded between Bangladesh's Benapole and India's Petrapole borders, following a Saturday notification by the Union ministry of commerce and industry, banning the entry of ready-made garments from the neighbouring country through land ports. The trucks carry clothes worth nearly Rs 5.5 crore. Before the trucks were stopped at Petrapole, they had cleared all formalities at the Bangladesh checkpost.Following the govt ban, daily truck arrivals across the border in North 24 Parganas have dropped from 218 on Saturday to 140 till 7.30 pm on Sunday. The numbers had already been hit by an April ban on transshipment of garments from Bangladesh to a third country via Kolkata airport.The double ban would hit Bangladesh more than India, say industry experts, since the Rs 6,000-crore worth of garments imported from Bangladesh comprised only 0.5% of the ready-made market in the country. "Around 93% of the garments imported from Bangladesh arrive via the land route, of which 80% enter through the Bengal border," said Sanjay Jain, chair of the national textile committee at the Indian Chamber of Commerce, and a lead exporter.Bangladesh also imports yarn, cloth, textile machinery, and other components from India."These trucks cleared all formalities at the Bangladesh checkpost and were to roll into India when the notification arrived at 7 pm, and they were immediately stopped," said Petrapole Clearing Agent Staff Welfare Association Secretary Kartik Chakraborty.Bangladesh, however, can continue to use the sea ports to continue doing business with India. However, the consignments can land only at Kolkata port or the Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai. Importers said most Indian traders were unlikely to use this route as it would be time-consuming and make inventory management a challenge. This may force Bangladeshi exporters to send the consignments by flights, which will further drive up logistics costs.Before the transshipment ban in April, almost 80-90 tonnes of made-in-Bangladesh garments used to be exported via Kolkata airport. The cost of air cargo from Kolkata, including the road transport from Dhaka to Kolkata, was around $3-3.5 per kg against the $5.5-6 per kg average air freight rate in Dhaka, making export via Kolkata airport a preferred choice among Bangladeshi garment exporters.Industry players are concerned about the souring relationship between the neighbours and the successive bans. "This trade embargo creates hurdles in business. International brands like Zara, H&M, Nike, and Primark prefer Bangladesh due to its low cost of production owing to cheap labour. But if material costs go up, they may shift to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, or China," said said senior export-import logistics specialist and consultant Jaideep Raha.