The story so far: On November 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the rail link between Agartala and Akhaura (in Bangladesh). It serves to re-establish connectivity between Bangladesh and India’s northeast through Tripura. “Through this link, States of northeast India can also be connected to ports of Bangladesh,” Mr Modi stated. Bangladeshi PM Ms. Hasina too highlighted that the long-awaited project would help energise connectivity and commerce in India’s northeast and Bangladesh.
What is the rail link about?
The 12.24 km long rail line constituting of about 6.78 km dual gauge rail line in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in Tripura, would link the latter to Akhaura in its immediate neighbourhood and thereby, its broader rail network. Nischintapur in West Tripura would serve as the international immigration station, that is, provide facilities to process immigration-related scrutiny for passengers. Additionally, in September, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had declared Nischintapur as a Land Customs Station (LCS). It refers to any notified place meant for the clearance of goods imported or to be exported by land or inland water.
Other than the international transit, once completely operational, the project would also reduce the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata from about 31 hours at present to 10 hours. The existing commute distance between the two cities is 1,581 km and a requires a re-route via Guwahati and Lumding in Assam. This would be curtailed to 460 km.
“The Akhaura-Agartala rail link which will reduce the travel time and distance between India’s Northeastern States and Kolkata by providing connectivity through Bangladesh, helps realise the potential of this physical continuity,” Sohini Bose, Associate Fellow for Neighbourhood Studies at the Strategic Studies Programme of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in Kolkata told The Hindu. Furthermore, she states, “it will also help India to access the Port of Chattogram in Bangladesh through shorter routes and thus benefit overseas trade.”
The project also is in continued adherence to the Central government’s ‘Act East Policy’ and ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’. As was pointed out by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) earlier, it would help the growth of small-scale industries in the border area, boost tourism in Northeast India and more importantly, help local producers with quicker import and export of items.
In June, NFR had anticipated the project would be completed at a total cost of ₹862.58 crore on the Indian side. Ministry for the Development of the Northeast Region provided the funds. In addition to this, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) provided the Bangladeshi government an assistance of ₹392.52 crore for work on the other side. The construction on the Indian side was done by public sector enterprise Indian Railways Construction International Ltd with Texmaco Rail and Engineering working on the Bangladeshi side.
How many connectivity routes are operational now?
As of now, five broad gauge connectivity routes are operational entailing links with Bangladesh – all of them from West Bengal. These include Gede railway station (West Bengal) to Darsana (Bangladesh), Benapole to Petrapole (West Bengal), Singhabad (West Bengal) to Rohanpur, Radhikapur (West Bengal) to Birol and Haldibari (West Bengal) to Chilahati. Work is underway to connect Mahihasan railway station in Assam to Shahbazpur in Bangladesh.
The memorandum of understanding for the Agartala-Akhaura rail link was signed in 2010 during Ms. Hasina’s visit to India. In fact, ORF in a 2015 report on India-Bangladesh connectivity, had observed that past records revealed the rail link was suggested as far back as 1974 with the signing of a protocol between the two countries for cross-traffic movement. “The idea then became dormant and would only be revived many years later, during Trade Review Talks between India and Bangladesh in December 1998,” the report held.
Trade between the two countries have been on a consistent growth trajectory. There is an interchange of close to 100 cargo trains per month and approximately 2.66 metric tonnes were sent to Bangladesh in the previous financial year. The major commodities of export include stone, food grains, China clay, gypsum, maize, onion and other essential items, as and when required, from India.
As for people-to-people ties, it is facilitated by three passenger trains, namely, Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express, Kolkata-Khulna Bandhan Express and New Jalpaiguri-Dhaka Mitali Express.
Is there a particular focus on rail connectivity?
India’s MEA had observed in a November 2022 note, that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries stepped up their rail cooperation. This was because trade via land border faced abnormal disruption. Therefore, rail emerged as a “preferred, cost-effective and environment-friendly mode for cross-border transportation of essential commodities”.
Furthermore, the Asian Development Bank Institute in a blog (July 2022) while enumerating developments in cross-border rail logistics, observed that following the success of movement of goods by rail, a parcel train service was introduced between India and Bangladesh. The low carrying capacity of these trains opened opportunities for export of smaller quantities of goods such as chemicals and textiles, among other things. The container train services and automobile cargo movement were also initiated.
According to Ms. Bose, the pandemic has taught countries “a lesson on the importance of supply chains”. “It has consequently added fresh vigour to connectivity projects between India and Bangladesh of which railways are an important sector. Advancing Port and Road connectivity is also important for both countries and efforts to improve both are underway along with the railway initiatives,” she said.
(With inputs from Kallol Bhattacherjee)
