The BJP-led Centre’s decision to prohibit the import of readymade garments from Bangladesh through land ports is expected to deal a serious blow to the garment trade and disrupt the livelihoods of thousands of daily wage earners involved in cargo handling, transport and related services atborder checkpoints.
According to a directive on Saturday by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Union ministry of commerce and industry, ready-made garments from Bangladesh can now only be imported through two sea ports — Nhava Sheva (Navi Mumbai) and Calcutta.
The new order effectively shuts down widely used trade routes between India and Bangladesh, particularly through land ports such as Petrapole in North 24-Parganas, which alone accounts for around 60 per cent of land-based garment importsfrom Bangladesh.
Bangladesh also stands to suffer a setback. The directive will prevent Dhaka from using land ports to export to India, significantly disrupting a supply chain that has long relied on overland routes for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The impact is not limited to garments alone — the Centre’s order also prohibits the import of a range of goods including fruit-flavoured carbonated drinks, processed food items like baked goods, chips and confectionery, cotton, cotton yarn waste, plastic and PVC finished products and wooden furniture through land ports in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, and via Changrabandha and Fulbari in Bengal.
However, the notification clarifies that the ban does not apply to Bangladeshi goods in transit through India en route to Nepal and Bhutan.
While the government has not officially cited a reason for this sweeping measure, it is widely viewed as a retaliatory response to recent curbs imposed by the Bangladeshi government on the import of Indian cotton yarn through its land ports — Benapole, Bhomra, Sonamasjid, Banglabandha and Burimari.
Cotton yarn constitutes around 30 per cent of India’s textile exports to Bangladesh. This latest notification appears to be New Delhi’s reply, underlining the growing diplomatic chill between the two neighbours.
Sushil Patwari, the chairman of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), described the decision as a “political” one. “This is a political decision taken by our government most probably in retaliation to the Bangladesh government’s stand on stopping the import of cotton yarn from India.... This decision will create a major impact on bilateral trade with Bangladesh,” he said.
India’s annual trade with Bangladesh is valued at around $13 billion, of which roughly $2 billion is import.
Imports of Bangladeshi ready-made garments are worth about $700 million, with around 92 per cent of these goods arriving via land ports. The directive is set to affect nearly 42 per cent of India’s imports from Bangladesh.
The ban has triggered uncertainty and despair among workers at key land ports like Petrapole and Ghojadanga. About 70 cargo trucks loaded with garments from Bangladesh would enter Petrapole every day, while Ghojadanga received at least 10 daily.
“With the land routes shut, a major section of the daily labourers, clearing agents and drivers will lose their jobs,” said Kartick Chakraborty, secretary of the Petrapole Clearing Agents Staff Welfare Association. “But we have to accept this decision for the sake of national interest,” he added.
Uzzal Saha, executive member of the West Bengal Exporters’ Coordination Committee, said, “We anticipate that there might be a sudden ban on export of a few goods to Bangladesh anytime. We would abide by any decision taken by the Central government in the national interest. But if a similar ban on export is imposed too, we would seek two weeks to send the consignments already booked through the land ports.”Amid the disruption and rising tension, individuals whose livelihoods are directly affected are left hoping for a resolution.
Md Sahin, a Bangladeshi cargo driver from Dhaka who had arrived at Ghojadanga land port on Sunday afternoon, possibly for the last time, said: “I hope that the government of the two neighbouring countries should at least think of common people like me before putting a restriction. I will be having no job from tomorrow since the items will be sent to India now through sea routes. I wish the differences between India and Bangladesh would be over and I will again be able to return to Indian ports with the cargo.”
Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar in Malda