Silchar, Oct. 7: The border trade centre at Suterkandi village in Karimganj district of Assam is poised for the second phase of expansion.

The construction will begin as soon as the Centre decides the quantum of grant for this phase, an official source in the district headquarters of Karimganj said today.

Suterkandi, which also has a land custom station and a BSF border outpost, is located on the Indo-Bangladesh border, 14km from Karimganj town. The trade centre, constructed on 13,380 square metres, lies at the terminating end of National Highway 151.

The source said the funds for Suterkandi would be made available from a central kitty of Rs 467 crore earmarked for the modernisation of at least seven border trade centres in the Northeast and West Bengal — Dawki in Meghalaya, Suterkandi in Assam, Agartala in Tripura, Demagiri (also Tlabung) in Mizoram and Petrapole, Hili and Changrabandha in West Bengal.

He said the outlay for Suterkandi’s proposed modernisation was yet to be fixed but it could be around Rs 70 crore.

The Suterkandi border trade centre was commissioned in January 2007 at a cost of Rs 8.5 crore in a built-up area of 13,000 square metres. In the first phase were built the trade centre, the land custom station, a modern transshipment platform for loading and unloading exported and imported goods, a giant warehouse, a dumping yard, a police station, a custom enclave, banks and a truck parking area.

In the second phase, residential quarters will be constructed for customs, bank and police personnel working there, more dumping yards, police and security outposts and car parking enclaves, sources in Suterkandi trade centre told this correspondent over phone today.

The custom staff at the trade centre said in 2012-13 India had imported goods worth Rs 46 crore from Bangladesh through the customs terminal and exported goods Rs 43 crore to the neighbouring country, thus wiping out the oft-repeated charges by Dhaka that Bangladesh suffers from an adverse balance of payments in its trading with India in this sector.

India generally exports to Bangladesh commodities such as rice, coal mined in Meghalaya, ginger from Mizoram, turmeric, citrus fruits like oranges, marble tiles and slabs, stainless steel, sanitary items and dry chillies. It imports hilsa fish, molasses, canned fruit juice, toilet soaps, bakery products, aerated water, battery plates, melamine products, biscuits and cement.

Apart from Suterkandi, Assam has three more authorised custom’s checkposts in Dhubri, Golokganj and Mankachar.