Stone export to Tripura thru Akhaura port on the decline

Highlights:

• Stone imported from Meghalaya used to be exported to Tripura through Akhaura 
• Imported at $8-10, the export value of broken stone was $25 per tonne
• Hundreds of truckloads of broken stone were exported every day
• Since 2017, the stone export trade has been collapsing.
• Traders say stone export to Tripura is unlikely to increase
• However, trading can be boosted by importing stones from Tripura

The volume of stone exports to Indian state Tripura through the Akhaura Land Port is continuously decreasing as the road and rail connectivity between Tripura and other states including Meghalaya have improved.

Traders in Tripura are now bringing stones from Meghalaya at low cost via train. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi traders now want to import stone from Tripura, for which they urged the authorities to reduce duty on stone import.

Bangladeshi traders used to export stones imported from Meghalaya through Sylhet's Tamabil land port to Tripura through the Akhaura land port.

The export of goods to Northeast India first started through the Akhaura land customs station in 1994. After the Akhaura land port started as a full-fledged port in August 2010, stone was the most sought after commodity exported to Northeast India through one of the country's largest and most export-oriented land ports.

Exported stone was a major source of revenue for land port authorities and foreign exchange earnings for the government. Even a few years ago, hundreds of truckloads of crushed stone used to be exported to Tripura every day through the Akhaura land port. Traders used to export stone at $25 per tonnes after importing from Meghalaya for only $8-9.

However, the stone export trade started collapsing after 2017. Ever since the direct rail link with Agartala city in Tripura state started, the traders there have reduced stone imports through the land port of Akhaura.

Currently, miniature stones from rivers in Sylhet and other places are being exported to Tripura through the Akhaura land port. Only 8 to 10 truckloads of stone are exported every week for $30 per tonne.

According to the information provided by the Akhaura land customs station authorities, the amount of crushed stone exported to Tripura was 56,844 metric tonnes in the fiscal year 2018-19. In the next fiscal year, it decreased to 2,600 tonnes. In FY 2020-21, the export was 6,926 metric tonnes. In FY2021-22, some 8,600 tonnes were exported and in the current fiscal year 2022-23 till last January, 3,412 tonnes of stone has been exported to Tripura.

Traders say there is no more opportunity to increase stone exports to Tripura. However, the import trade of Akhaura land port can be boosted by importing stone from Tripura. In November last year, for the first time, 2700 tonnes of crushed stone were imported through the Akhaura land port in four consignments. The import price is $13 per tonne, However, the duty for imported stone was about 69%.

Traders said they want to regularly import stone if the import duty is reduced.

Akhaura land port businessman Rajeev Bhuiyan said there is a huge demand for stone in Bangladesh. If Akhaura land port is used to meet this demand, commercial activities of the land port will accelerate other than businessmen benefitting from it.

Another businessman, Mozammel Haque, said that the export of stone through the land port has reached the bottom.

Joint General Secretary of C&F Agents Association of Akhaura Land Port Nasir Uddin said, "Stone exports are steadily declining. In other words, we have lost the stone market. As businessmen have been affected by this, many workers have also become unemployed."

Superintendent of Akhaura land port, Samaul Islam said, "Due to the decline in stone exports, the revenue collection of the port has decreased. However, necessary measures will be taken concerning the demand of traders to reduce the duty on the import of stones."