Transportation of goods through the country’s largest land port Benapole has been crippled due to the transport fare hike following the recent price hike in fuel oils. Businessmen at the port alleged that transport owners have increased the truck fare abnormally after the fuel price hike. As a result, they can’t send goods across the country as trucks are not available now, which created chaos in the transport system of the port. Importers, transport agents and C & F agents are struggling to send goods to various places in the country imported from India.  Meanwhile, passengers of Benapole who returned home from India have to count additional money as all long route buses have increased the fare from Tk 200 to Tk 700 in different categories.  Importers said they used to pay Tk 15,000 to 21,000 a trip of a goods-laden truck from Benapole to Dhaka. But now, owners of the trucks are charging Tk 25,000 to 28,000 which is too much abnormal compared to the recent price hike of fuel.   Importers cannot release goods from the port due to a lack of trucks despite paying duty to the port customs, they lamented.   Read: Revenue declined by Tk 26.75 cr due to covid restrictions on Benapole port  On the other hand, some importers of Dhaka said they can’t bring the imported goods to factories because of additional truck fares.  Anwar Ali Anu, an importer of Jashore, said he brought goods from Benapole to Jashore by truck at Tk 5,000 maximum in the last month. But now truck owners are charging Tk 11,000 for the same amount of goods. “This additional truck fare will trigger us to the losses,” he added.   Benapole Transport Agency Owners’ Association General Secretary Azim Uddin said importers will have to pay Tk 10,000 additional fare per truck as fuel cost has increased the pressure on the transport sector.   Echoing the same, Atikuzzaman Sony, president of the organisation said businessmen don’t get a truck or covered van despite offering additional fares increasing suffering for the importers.     Benapole Port Importers-Exporters Association president Mohsin Milon said many businesses are giving additional fares for some goods which might be rotted.

Export and import through the Benapole land port will gain pace once the long-awaited Padma Bridge is inaugurated. Goods will travel from the port to the capital Dhaka within a very short time, which will decrease the prices of almost every item, said Shamsur Rahman, President of Benapole C&F Agents Association. Around 80 per cent of raw materials needed for various industries including the readymade garments (RMG) sector is imported through the Benapole land port. The inauguration of the 6.15km-long double-decker bridge on June 25 and the subsequent launch of vehicular movement on June 26 will expand industrial production as well as the markets for different agro-products in the country’s southwestern region. Read: Padma Bridge lights up the night ahead of opening Currently, the government collects around Tk 6,000 crore as revenue from the Benapole Customs House per year, which will increase to Tk 10,000 crore due to the addition of the Padma Bridge to the existing communication network. Benapole Export-Import Association President Mohsin Milon said that a long-cherished dream of the Benapole port users is going to be fulfilled through the Padma Bridge’s coming into existence. “We thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for this much-needed gift to the business community of the southern Bangladesh. Businesspeople will be more motivated to expand their businesses as Padma Bridge will increase the ease of doing business and reduce the travel time between Dhaka to the southwestern part of the country,’ added Milon.

Unknown attackers exploded home-made bombs in a bid to take control of Benapole land port’s contracting job on Monday, leaving at least 20 workers and several pedestrians injured. The import and export trade between the two countries, including unloading of goods, has been suspended due to this attack, witnesses said. Port handling worker contractor Wahiduzzaman Wahid said a group of goons exploded a number of bombs in front of the port. At least 20 workers and were injured. Also read: 2 children hurt in bomb explosion in Jashore Critically injured port worker Imran Hossain was admitted to a local hospital, he said. “The men of ‘Rashed Bahini’ carried out the bomb attack on the port,” he alleged. There has been a long dispute between two groups over controlling the port handling contracts. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Jewel Imran of Navaran Police's "A" Circle said police brought the situation under control. Also read: JMB man gets life term jail for 2005 bomb blasts “However, the primary investigation revealed that the attack was carried out under the leadership of Rashed Councillor,” said the official without providing details. Police detained three people in this connection, he added.

Benapole Customs House has fallen short of its targeted revenue by Tk509 crore in the first six months of the current 2021-22 fiscal as the customs house collected about Tk1,991 crore against a target of Tk2,500 crore. However, Tk101 crore more was collected this time than the first six months of 2019-20 fiscal year. At that time the revenue collection target was Tk 1,889 crore. In the first six months of this year, 11,53,034 metric tonnes of goods have been imported which was 11,53,034  metric tonnes in the first six months of 2019-20 fiscal year. Besides, 2,76,003 metric tonnes have been exported this time which was 1,76,296 metric tonnes in the first half of 2019-20. Although imports have declined slightly compared to last year, exports have increased. According to Benapole Customs sources, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set a revenue target of Tk 6,245 crore for imported goods this year. Earlier, in the fiscal year 2020-21, the revenue target at Benapole port was Tk 6,244.62 crore. At the end of last fiscal year, Tk 4,143 crore was collected. Although the growth of revenue during the year was higher than other times, the deficit was Tk 2,057 crore. Besides, the shortfall was Tk 3,392 crore against the target in 2019-20 fiscal year while it was Tk1,145 crore in 2018-19 and Tk 179.64 crore in 2017-18. Can the target ever be achieved? Meanwhile, there are doubts in all sections about achieving the target of such a large amount this year. Experts said it is necessary to develop the infrastructure in customs and ports to expand trade in order to increase revenue, which is a long term prospect. Otherwise, it will never be possible to collect the expected amount of revenue. The businessmen of India and Bangladesh are more interested in trade through this port due to the ease of communication. However, due to lack of necessary infrastructure, traders cannot import products as per the demand. And so, the revenue is declining continuously. Sazedur Rahman, general secretary of the Benapole C&F Agent Association, said it will be difficult to collect such a large amount of revenue in the current fiscal year because of the Covid situation. However, the record clearly shows even prior to Covid the port always missed its target.

Stranded Bangladeshi nationals in India can enter the country through Benapole port on 3 days of the week, the days being Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. This directive of the Home Ministry reached Benapole Immigration in the early hours of Saturday. As a result, no one could enter the country on Saturday through Benapole, confirmed the officer-in charge of Benapole Immigration Ahsan Habib. Also read: 3,350 Bangladeshis return through Benapole since Apr 26; 17 test Covid positive “People can enter Bangladesh (both Bangladeshi and Indian) through Benapole Port only on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday from now on,” the OC said. Those looking to enter Bangladesh must carry with them an RT-PCR certificate (with a negative result) and NOC from the Bangladesh High Commission in India, he added. Also read: Border with India to remain closed for another 14 days: Secretary Although no-one was allowed to enter on Saturday, 11 Indians and 2 Bangladeshis did go across, carrying the test certificates and NOCs from the Indian High Commissioner.  

Around 5,000 trucks loaded with goods are waiting to cross into Bangladesh at India's Petrapole land port,  on the other side of the Benapole border. While they have been stranded, trade between the two countries has been greatly affected. It has already had a major impact on revenue collection (import duties).

An organization of Petropole Port India “Jeebon Jibika Bachao Committee" has halted trade through Benapole port of Bangladesh for the second consecutive day.

Benapole port, the largest land port in the country, has become a safe haven for smugglers.

Export and import between Bangladesh and India through Benapole land port remained suspended due to Kali Puja, a religious festival of the Hindu community, on Sunday.

Fish farmers and importantly the Fisheries Department of Jashore district are calling for a ban on importing fish from India, at a time when the country’s fish imports from India have doubled through Benapole port.