Trade through ICP Petrapole at Bangladesh-India border resumes
Nearly 30% of land-based trade between India and Bangladesh takes place through ICP Petrapole
Trade through Integrated Check Post (ICP) Petrapole at the Bangladesh-India border resumed from Wednesday (19 January) after facing disruptions for the last two days.
The outcome followed an end to the strike of truck drivers which was going on for the last two days after India's Border Security Force (BSF) seized 82 fake driving licences and implemented a complete ban on such drivers carrying fake driving licence to ply trucks to Bangladesh through ICP Petrapole, reports the ANI.
The international trade through ICP Petrapole began with the Bangaon Goods Transporters Association calling off its strike at around 9 am after the assurance from the BSF.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
As a result, import trucks parked inside the cargo complex have started unloading empty Indian trucks. The imports started at around 9.30 am and the exports were also started an hour later at around 10.37 am. The Land Port Authority of India verbally assured BSF that they would issue identity cards to the transporters in the next four days.
ICP Petrapole is located along the international border between India and Bangladesh is the largest land port in South Asia. It is situated at a distance of about 80 km from the city of Kolkata, West Bengal Petrapole (India)-Benapole (Bangladesh) is an important land border crossing for India Bangladesh both in terms of trade and passenger movement.
Nearly 30% of land-based trade between India and Bangladesh takes place through ICP Petrapole.
Since its operationalisation in February 2016, the ICP has been witnessing an increasing number of passenger movements with an average of 22 lakh people crossing the border post on either side each year.
