India blocks land route for several Bangladeshi goods, hits textile trade

India Today

18-05-2025

In a tit-for-tat move, India has banned imports of several items from Bangladesh via land routes, dealing a severe blow to Dhaka, which already has a massive trade deficit with Delhi amounting to USD 9.2 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2024.As per a notification sent by the Commerce Ministry, dated May 17, imports from Bangladesh will only be allowed through Mumbai's Nhava Sheva and Kolkata's seaports.advertisementSeveral items like fruits, fruit-flavoured and carbonated drinks, processed food items, wooden furniture, plastic, dyes, cotton and cotton yarn waste, among others, have been included in the list.
Imports of these products through the land customs check posts in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Changrabandha and Fulbari in West Bengal have now been barred.However, fish, edible oil, LPG and crushed stones have been exempted from the list.This latest move will make Bangladeshi goods even more expensive, acting as a disincentive for Indian importers.Bangladesh -- a major exporter of textiles and readymade garments - will now be unable to send these goods via land routes, severely impairing Dhaka's export sector.Last month, the Narendra Modi government pulled the plug on the transshipment facility that had allowed Bangladesh's export cargo to flow smoothly to other countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.advertisementDays later, Bangladesh stopped its import of yarn -- which forms 30 per cent of Delhi's textile exports to Dhaka -- through Benapole, Bhomra, Sonamasjid, Banglabandha and Burimari land ports.Meanwhile, Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus called for "an integrated economic plan for Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Seven Sisters" last week. This proposal came two months after Yunus urged China to extend its economic footprint not only to Bangladesh but also to India's seven northeastern states.