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Nearly eight decades after Partition, a historic trade route between India and Bangladesh is set to reopen as Assam prepares to export methanol produced by Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APL) through the Brahmaputra waterway.
The shipment will depart from the Bogibeel Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal in Dibrugarh and travel through Bangladesh’s inland waterways to Dhaka, marking the first international commercial cargo movement from Dibrugarh since India’s independence.
Preparations at the Bogibeel terminal have been completed, with customs clearance facilities, jetties and storage infrastructure in place to handle international freight.
Two vessels will carry 27 containers each, with a capacity of 20 tonnes per container, transporting a total of 1,080 tonnes of methanol.
The waterway stretches about 783 kilometres from Bogibeel to the Bangladesh border, while the full journey to Dhaka is expected to take around seven days.
In preparation for the shipment, APL leased and restored two government-owned vessels that had remained abandoned and out of operation for nearly 30 years at Pandu Ghat in Guwahati.
Officials said the revival of the Brahmaputra waterway could open new opportunities for regional exports to Bangladesh and other international markets, including petrochemical products, tea, coal and agricultural goods such as Kaji Nemu and Bhut Jolokia.