Country's two seaports have the capacity to handle transit related goods; thus India can use those if it wants, a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was told, The Financial Express reports.
"We informed the PMO that if India wants, it can use Chittagong and Mongla ports as those have enough idle capacity," Shipping Secretary Abdul Mannan Howlader told the FE.
He said the charges for use of the ports by the Indian ships have not been fixed yet. "They will pay in line with the fees set for the other foreign ships."
The PMO meeting was convened to get update relating to the preparation for sub-regional cooperation.
A working group headed by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) recently submitted a report to Mr Howlader, which expressed the opinion that the two ports have the capacity to handle Indian goods.
The group estimated that India may carry 0.36 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers per year through the two Bangladeshi seaports.
"The handling facilities of Chittagong and Mongla ports, storage facility and manpower are adequate to handle the Indian goods," it said.
It said the capacity of the Chittagong port will increase by 1.2 million TEUs once the New Mooring Container Terminal starts operation.
It also suggested quick completion of development works of the Chittagong and Mongla ports.
The Chittagong seaport has handled 1.392 million TEUs of containers in 2010 against its present capacity of 1.8 million TEUs. Its capacity will increase to 3.0 million TEUs after the New Mooring Container Terminal starts operation.
The working group report mentioned that if the container handling increases by 12 per cent per year, it won't face any problem to handle Indian transit related goods.
It said the Mongla port has the capacity of handling 6.5 million tonnes of goods and 50,000 TEUs of containers per year. It handled 2.69 million tonnes of goods and 27,123 TEUs of containers in fiscal year (FY) 2010-11.
"If the three jetties of Mongla port can be used, its capacity will increase to 0.1 million tonnes of TEUs," the report said.
Alongside India, two neighbouring countries, Nepal and Bhutan, have also expressed interests in using the two Bangladeshi seaports to carry their goods.
India wants to use the Chittagong port to carry cargoes to its 'seven sister states' of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
Nepal wants to use the two Bangladeshi seaports for its import and export cargoes.
Land-locked Bhutan is also in favour of using the two Bangladeshi ports for its sea-borne export-import trade.
"We informed the PMO that if India wants, it can use Chittagong and Mongla ports as those have enough idle capacity," Shipping Secretary Abdul Mannan Howlader told the FE.
He said the charges for use of the ports by the Indian ships have not been fixed yet. "They will pay in line with the fees set for the other foreign ships."
The PMO meeting was convened to get update relating to the preparation for sub-regional cooperation.
A working group headed by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) recently submitted a report to Mr Howlader, which expressed the opinion that the two ports have the capacity to handle Indian goods.
The group estimated that India may carry 0.36 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers per year through the two Bangladeshi seaports.
"The handling facilities of Chittagong and Mongla ports, storage facility and manpower are adequate to handle the Indian goods," it said.
It said the capacity of the Chittagong port will increase by 1.2 million TEUs once the New Mooring Container Terminal starts operation.
It also suggested quick completion of development works of the Chittagong and Mongla ports.
The Chittagong seaport has handled 1.392 million TEUs of containers in 2010 against its present capacity of 1.8 million TEUs. Its capacity will increase to 3.0 million TEUs after the New Mooring Container Terminal starts operation.
The working group report mentioned that if the container handling increases by 12 per cent per year, it won't face any problem to handle Indian transit related goods.
It said the Mongla port has the capacity of handling 6.5 million tonnes of goods and 50,000 TEUs of containers per year. It handled 2.69 million tonnes of goods and 27,123 TEUs of containers in fiscal year (FY) 2010-11.
"If the three jetties of Mongla port can be used, its capacity will increase to 0.1 million tonnes of TEUs," the report said.
Alongside India, two neighbouring countries, Nepal and Bhutan, have also expressed interests in using the two Bangladeshi seaports to carry their goods.
India wants to use the Chittagong port to carry cargoes to its 'seven sister states' of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
Nepal wants to use the two Bangladeshi seaports for its import and export cargoes.
Land-locked Bhutan is also in favour of using the two Bangladeshi ports for its sea-borne export-import trade.