Exportable items and border infrastructure

EXPORTABLE ITEMS FROM ASSAM AND BORDER TRADE WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

Tea is the major item of export from Assam. Assam’s share in India’s export of tea to various countries in the world is more than 50%. Apart from tea, some items like Joha rice , Bhut jolokia, Cane & Bamboo products, Muga & Eri fabrics and made ups, etc now are being exported to various countries through third parties/agency houses located at Mumbai, Kolkata & New Delhi. Assam borders Bhutan and Bangladesh and some of the items now exported to these two countries through various Land Custom Stations (LCS). There is a possibility to export more to other countries.

1. Indo- Bangla Border

India’s border with Bangladesh is 4096.7 Km long. Out of which 1880 Km Border is shared by four North Eastern States of India comprising of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Rest 2216.70 Km is shared with West Bengal. State-wise share of border with the North Eastern states is as follows:

Border with Bangladesh
Sl	State/s	Land Border (Km)	Riverine (Km)	Total (Km)
1	Assam	160	103	263
2	Meghalaya	443	0	443
3	Tripura	773	83	856
4	Mizoram	58	260	318
	Total	1434	446	1880

2. Indo-Bhutan Border

Border with Bhutan
Sl	State/s	Land Border (Km)
1	Sikkim	32
2	West Bengal	183
3	Assam	267
4	Arunachal Pradesh	217
	Total	699

3. Land Custom Stations of NER bordering Bangladesh

Government of India has notified 32 Land Custom Stations (LCS) of NER. Out of 32 LCSs, 18 are functional and 14 are non functional. In Assam, out of 13 LCSs, 3 are functional and other 10 LCSs non-functional. Golakganj is appointed as a Land Customs Station only for the purpose of export of Stone boulders, Stone chips and Coal from India and a Border Trade Centre is under construction at Golokganj (Sonahat, Gate No-24) of Dhubri district.

LCS in North East India
	State	No of LCS	Name of Functional LCS	Name of Non-Functional LCS
1	Assam	13	1. Sutarkandi ( Karimganj District)	1. Mahisasan Railway station (Karimganj District)
			2. Karimganj Steamer ghat (Karimganj District)	2. Silchar RMS ( Cachar district)
			3. Mankachar ( Dhubri district)	3. Karimganj Rly Station (Karimganj District)
				4. Karimganj Ferry stations (Karimganj District)
				5. Silchar Steamer ghat ( Cachar district)
				6. Tezpur Steamer ghat ( Sonitpur district)
				7. Dhubri Steamer ghat( Dhubri district)
				8. Golokganj ( Dhubri district)
				9. Guwahati Steamer ghat (Kamrup metro)
				10. Latu Bazar (Karimganj District)
2	Meghalaya	10	1. Mahendraganj	1. Ryanku
			2. Baghmara	2. Balat
			3. Ghasupara
			4. Dawki
			5. Bholaganj
			6. Borsora
			7. Shellabazar
			8. Dalu
3	Mizoram	1	Nil	1.Demagiri
4	Tripura	8	1. Old Rangabazar	1. Dhalughat
			2. Manu
			3. Agartala
			4. Khowighat
			5. Srimantapur
			6. Muhurighat
			7. Sabroom ( 2011)
		32	18 functional	14 non functional

4. Land Custom Stations of Assam Bordering Bhutan


(1) Darranga ( Baksa District of BTAD)	Rangia-Tamulpur Motorable road from Darranga to Samdrup-Thankar (in Bhutan) in the District of Baksa of Assam.
(2) Hatisar ( Chirang District of BTAD)	Motorable Road from Samthiabari to Gaylegphug (Bhutan) via Runikhata and Deosiri in the District of Chirang of Assam.

5. Status of Land Custom Stations in Assam

As mentioned, there are 13 declared LCSs in Assam and out of which 10 are non-functional. Status of these LCSs is shown below:


Sl	Name of the LCS	Present status
1	Sutarkandi	Functional & trading is going on, Infrastructure created under ASIDE scheme.
2	Karimganj steamer ghat	Functional & development of approach road is underway to be completed by December,2012.Funded through ASIDE.
3	Mankachar	Functional & Infrastructure created under ASIDE fund. There is no direct connectivity with Bangladesh due to absence of bridges & road.
4	Mahisasan Railway station	Ministry of Railway proposed taken up to gauge conversion works and mentioned in the Railway Budget for 2011-12 presented in the Lok Sabha by the then Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee, details not available. This railway station shall be entry point of India in the proposed Trans-Asian Railway net-work.
5	Silchar RMS	Non-Functional
6	Karimganj Rly Station	Non-Functional
7	Karimganj Ferry stations	Non-Functional
8	Silchar Steamer ghat	Non-Functional
9	Tezpur Steamer ghat	Non-Functional
10	Dhubri Steamer ghat	Non-Functional but to be functional soon, Development of port is now undertaken up by IWTC.
11	Golokganj	At present non-functional, construction of basic infrastructure is going on with assistance under ASIDE. It will be functional soon.
12	Guwahati Steamer ghat	Non-Functional but to be functional soon, Development of port facilities are going on under IWTC.
13	Latu Bazar	Non-functional
14	Darranga	Trading is going on. One Border Trade Centre under Construction.
15	Hatisar	Trading is going on. Proposed to set up one Border Trade Centre at Hatisar LCS.

6. Border trade with Bangladesh through LCSs of Assam

Border trade with Bangladesh through the three LCSs of Assam for the Year 2007-08 to 2011-12 are as follows:

EXPORT THROUGH LCSs OF ASSAM TO BANGLADESH
2007-08 to 2011-12
Fig in Rs.in Cr
	EXPORT LCS wise	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
1	Mankachar, Indo-Bangla	0.13	0.37	0.11	0.08	0.13
2	Karimganj Steamer & Ferry, Indo-Bangla	4.78	3.83	5.31	13.75	8.52
3	Sutarkandi, Indo-Bangla	24.66	29.40	28.57	19.48	26.99
	Total	29.57	33.60	33.99	33.31	35.64

IMPORT FROM BANGLADESH THROUGH LCS OF ASSAM
2007-08 to 2011-12
Fig in Rs.in Cr
	IMPORT LCS wise	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
1	Mankachar, Indo-Bangla	0.12	0.20	1.82	2.96	1.98
2	Karimganj Steamer & Ferry, Indo-Bangla	0.56	0.56	1.14	0.70	0.03
3	Sutarkandi, Indo-Bangla	14.22	28.65	41.11	30.53	45.63
	Total	14.90	29.41	44.07	34.19	47.64

7. Items Exported through LCSs of Assam to Bangladesh & Bhutan

Exported items to Bangladesh: based on 2007-08 to 2010-11 data
	To Bangladesh		To Bhutan
1	Bamboo Muli	1	Bricks
2	Betel leave	2	Empty bottles
3	Broken Glass	3	HSDO
4	Ceramic & wooden statue	4	LPG
5	Citrus fruit	5	Motor Spirit
6	Coal (Meghalaya origin)	6	Oranges
7	Dry Chili	7	Rectified spirit
8	Dry Fish	8	Rice
9	Ginger	9	SKO
10	Lime Quick (MT)
11	Onion
12	Orange
13	Plywood (kgs)
14	Stainless steel products
15	Stone
16	Tomato
17	Turmeric

8. Imported items from Bangladesh through LCSs of Assam : based on 2007-08 to 2010-11 data


1	Aerated Water	21	Kopi Lamp	41	Soya bin Oil
2	Beauty soap	22	Laundry Soap	42	Synthetic fruit drinks
3	Biscuit	23	Melamine products	43	Tableware
4	Bricks	24	Men’s boy’s head gear	44	Vulcanized rubber sheet
5	Cement	25	Men's trouser Cotton	45	Vanaspati
6	Cigarette Filter	26	Men's trouser shorts/shirts	46	Woven fabrics
7	Coconut Coir	27	Misc Food items	47	Woven Fabrics
8	Cotton waste	28	Misc items
9	Crackers & Chips	29	Molasses
10	Dry cell battery	30	Other knitted synthetic fabric
11	Fishes, other	31	Other metal, wooden furniture
12	Fishing net	32	Plastic household articles/ furniture
13	Float glass	33	Porcelain table ware
14	Fried Veg products	34	PVC pipes & tubes
15	Furniture	35	Readymade garments
16	Geo Bags	36	Religious books
17	Hand pump tube well	37	Rose water
18	Hilsha Fish	38	Rubber Footwear
19	Keya Super Soap	39	Rubber smoked sheet
20	Knitted crocheted synthetic fabric	40	Soap

Imported Items from Bhutan:
From Bhutan
Bhutanese liquor
Boulder Stone
Plywood/ Block Board

8. LCS wise Ranking of Exported Items and place of Origin ( to Bangladesh):

( Based on 2010-11 data & ranking based on value of import)

(a) Sutarkandi LCS
	Item/s	Rank	Places of origin
1	Coal ( 79789 MT)	1	Meghalaya
2	Ginger (83 MT)	2	Assam , Meghalaya , Manipur, Tripura & Mizoram.
3	Orange (77 MT)	3	Do
4	Others	4	Assam

(b) Karimganj Steamer & Ferry Service
	Item/s	Rank	Places of origin
1	Ginger (4949 MT)	1	Assam , Meghalaya , Manipur, Tripura & Mizoram.
2	Orange (422 MT)	2	do
3	Dry Fish (136 MT)	3	Assam
4	Betel Leave (21 MT)	4	Assam
5	Citrus fruit ( 208746 nos)	5	Assam
6	Turmeric ( 15 MT)	6	Assam

(c) Mankachar LCS
	Item/s	Rank	Places of origin
1	Coal (192 MT)	1	Meghalaya
2	Stone (1309 MT)	2	Assam & Meghalaya

9. Indo-Bhutan Trade

(a) Land Custom Stations (LCS):
There are two land custom stations in Assam-Bhutan Border , one at Hatisar ( in Kokrajhar district) another at Darranga ( Baksa district) . Due to lack of adequate infrastructure in both the side , the LCS at the Darranga is not functioning. EXIM Data of Hatisar LCS is given below:

Export 2009-12
LCS: Hatisar ( Indo-Bhutan Border)
Sl	Item/s of Export	2009-10		2010-11		2011-12
Sl	Item/s of Export	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)
1	Rectified spirit (KL)	752360	3.75	18390000	6.27	1821800	7.50
2	SKO(KL)	1536	1.23	1188	1.20	1176	1.50
3	HSDO (KL)	7970	22.68	10036	32.60	23736	48.40
4	Empty Bottles (pcs)	487580	0.24	4024240	2.08	4879982	3.03
5	Bricks (nos)	5020500	1.53	9409500	3.18	7097300	2.91
6	LPG (no)	58386	1.55	59425	1.93	67320	2.37
7	Motor Spirit (KL)	2372	14.50	3016	1.29	3472	32.12
8	Rice (ton)	3760.38	5.33	2693	0.46	21804	5.17
9	Oranges (boxes)	139762	0.16	149875	0.14	200509	10.16
	Total		50.97		49.15		113.16

Import 2009-12
LCS: Hatisar ( Indo-Bhutan Border)
Sl	Item/s of Import	2009-10		2010-11		2011-12
Sl	Item/s of Import	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)	Qty	Value (Rs.in Cr)
1	Plywood/Block boards ( sq mtr)	39206	0.44	1440	0.02	8403	0.18
2	Bhutanish liquor (Cases/Ltr)	16900	1.27	9200	0.37	0	0
	Total		1.71		0.39		0.18

10. Requirement

Based on the opportunities of border trade, following activities need to be taken care of:
1	Taking Cachar as a future economic hub, Export Processing Industrial Parks, grading & packaging facilities, Trade Facilitation Centres, Containers scanning facilities , etc may be set up . Apart from that massive awareness programmes for new exporters/entrepreneurs, trade delegation to neigbouring countries may be arranged.
2	Keeping Dhubri as future Business Hub in Lower Assam region, similar activities may be considered on priority basis.
3	All bilateral issues like transit facility , air connectivity, dredging of river Brahmaputra & Barak, Visa arrangement, connectivity issues, setting up of Air Cargo facilities etc may be taken up.
4	Need of a Multi Activity Common Facility Services centre for development of exportable products in the line of Bangsai Art & Craft Village, Bangkok.
5	One Border Trade Centre at Darranga ( Indo-Bhutan Border) is under construction and likely to be completed by March, 2014. Hatisar is a major LCS along Indo-Bhutan Border and one Border Trade Centre is urgently required.

Government Of Assam Industries & Commerce