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Petrapole, Benapole customs stations on Bangla borders to work seven days a week from Jan 1

Updated: Dec 26, 2013 02:09:20pm
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New Delhi, Dec 26 (KNN) With an aim to  boosting  trade between India and Bangladesh, the Union Government has announced that Petrapole and Benapole land customs stations (on Bangladesh side) will remain operational seven days a week starting January 1, 2014 and working hours of both the sides would be aligned.
 
The move which is likely to ease congestion on the Bangladesh border, where than 50 per cent of the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh takes place through the Petrapole-Benapole land custom route.

"The move will ease off the way for trade between the two countries and it will especially benefit the textiles sectors of both the countries," Union Textiles Minister of K S Rao has said.
 
The decision to keep Petrapole and Benapole customs stations operational on all week days came in the wake of Rao writing to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram about the problems being faced by exporters due to congestion at Bangladesh border. 

According to a Textiles ministry statement, the Finance Ministry has taken measures to facilitate the trade at Petrapole including extended working hours for the functioning of Customs at Petrapole and aligning the weekly holiday with Bangladesh so as to provide more working days to the trade. 

"Regular meetings are being held between the jurisdictional Commissioners of Customs of India and Bangladesh as well as meetings with trade at the border to address issues of concern to the trade. These steps are expected to ease the traffic congestion to a large extent," the statement added. 
 
The delay in movement of export cargo at Petrapole is primarily due to infrastructural inadequacies at LCS, Petrapole emerging out of road conditions, traffic congestion and lack of authorized parking facilities.
“These issues are being taken up with the district administration,” the Ministry said.

To further reduce congestion, the Land Ports Authority of India is building an Integrated Check Post (ICP) incorporating state of the art infrastructural facilities at Petrapole, which is expected to be ready by operation in 2014 to ensure smooth flow of goods being exported from India to Bangladesh, it added. (KNN Bureau)

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