Abdus Salam, Dinajpur Correspondent
Molasses (Chitagur) import from India has started for the first time by road and rail through Hili Land Port in Dinajpur as it has a good demand in the local market against the declining condition of domestic sugar mills.
On last Sunday, 50 wagons carrying Chitagur entered the country from India’s Madhya Pradesh, via the Benapole railway port. After that 20 wagons were left at Ishwardi and 30 wagons reached Hili Railway Station. Messrs Anwarul Haque of Joypurhat imported these molasses.
Similarly, molasses is being imported from India by road through Hili Land Port. According to the Hili Land Port Office, the Eastern Enterprise of Kolkata is exporting these molasses. Many importers including Fazlur Rahman of Joypurhat district of Bangladesh are importing molasses. Molasses is being imported from India at a price of USD 110 per tonne while the government is earning a duty of Tk 4,200 per tonne.
Anwarul Haque, an importer of molasses, told Bangladesh Post that when the country's sugar mills were in full swing in production, a sufficient quantity of molasses was produced. From 1989 to 2014, after meeting local demands extra molasses was exported to India through various ports, including Hili Land Port. Several sugar mills in different parts of the country have been shut down recently due to losses. As a result, the supply of molasses has decreased. However, there is a good demand for molasses in the country's market. Therefore, to meet that demand, molasses has to be imported from India at higher prices.
He further said, for the first time, 30 wagons arrived at Hili Railway Station in the first consignment of his imported 2,500 tonnes of molasses by rail. The unloading process is currently underway. These molasses will be supplied to various factories for making food for cattle, chicken and fish. He added that there is a lot of troubles in importing goods by road. There is no space inside the port, cars can't get out on time. There is a lot of troubles like this. On the contrary, there is no problem in importing molasses by rail, so molasses is being imported by rail.
Hili Railway Station Master Tapan Kumar said that import and export through Hili Land Port were stopped last year due to corona pandemic. At that time, the import of goods from India resumed through Hili railway station. After that onion, stone, wheat and maize are regularly imported through this route. Recently, for the first time, molasses has been imported. A total of 2,500 tonnes of molasses enntered the country in 50 wagons through Benapole port. Of these, 30 wagons are unloading goods at Hili Railway Station. By importing molasses by rail, the railway has earned a fare of around Tk 19 lakh. He also said that if the infrastructure of Hily Railway Station is further developed, the import of goods by rail as well as the revenue of Hili port will increase.
Shyamal Kishore Das, a C&F Agent at Hili Land Port, said, “Due to good demand in the Indian market, exporters from different parts of the country, including Joypurhat, have been exporting significant quantity of molasses to India for a long time but, the opposite picture is being notoiced recently. Although molasses has been exported from Bangladesh to India for so long, at present molasses is being imported from India”.
Sohrab Hossain, Public Relations Officer of Hili land port, said that although molasses has been exported from Bangladesh to India through Hili land port for a long time, import of molasses has recently started through the port. This has increased the revenue of the government as well as the revenue of the port. In the last few days, about 10 consignments of molasses have been imported through the port and it still continues.
