INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post last week through video-conferencing.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participated in the video-conference from Kolkata.
Modi said he believed that India’s progress was linked with the development of its neighbours, and hoped that the Petrapole-Benapole ICP would contribute to the combined development and prosperity of the two countries. Stressing that connectivity and development were interlinked, he said an ICP was already commissioned at Agartala and another eight ICPs were planned on the Indo-Bangladesh border.
The Petrapole Check Post will provide better support facilities for smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport
Modi greeted on the occasion the Bangladesh PM for her key role in strengthening Indo-Bangladesh relations and thanked the West Bengal Chief Minister for participating in the video conference.
The Petrapole-Benapole is an important land border crossing for India-Bangladesh trade. More than 50pc of the India-Bangladesh trade passes through Petrapole, the biggest land port in South Asia. Trade worth more than 150bn rupees ($2.23bn) takes place through the Petrapole ICP, which is higher than all the other Indian Land Ports and Land Customs Stations put together. About 1.5m people and 150,000 trucks cross Petrapole-Benapole every year.
The Petrapole ICP will provide better facilities for effective and efficient discharge of functions such as security, immigration, customs and quarantine, while providing support facilities for smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport.
Built at a cost of 1.42bn rupees ($21m). Petrapole now covers 100 acres of area, which is much larger than its earlier spread of 15 acres only.
The Petrapole ICP will be the second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the Agartala ICP at the Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) land border. It will also be the biggest land port in South Asia.
It is expected that the commissioning of the Petrapole ICP will double the capacity of the check post and benefit the local business community immensely as a result of reduced transaction time and costs. The commissioning of the Petrapole ICP will also serve to foster greater economic integration and connectivity between India and Bangladesh.
News desk
—The Statesman/ANN
Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, July 25th, 2016