According to data, before India ended the transshipment facility for Bangladesh’s export cargo, there was a noticeable surge in truck movement and shipments at Petrapole, the country’s largest land port. New Delhi suspended the facility on April 8, shortly after Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus expressed support for expanding China’s economic influence in the strategically sensitive Northeast India region. India had initially approved the transshipment of Bangladeshi export goods to third countries via Indian Land Customs Stations and later through its ports and airports, starting on June 29, 2020.

Customs officials at Petrapole Land Port reported that during the 2023-24 financial year, 3,373 trucks carrying transhipment goods or export cargo arrived from Bangladesh, bringing in 4,733 consignments worth Rs 2,357.27 crore. In the following financial year, 2024-25, the number of such trucks rose by 39%, reaching 4,686, with 7,772 consignments valued at Rs 3,446.66 crore.

“The facility was extended by our country to Bangladesh in 2020, but it saw little response that year and in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, though, transhipment consignments arrived in good numbers, and there was a sharp increase thereon. Primarily, ready-made garments come to us as commodities and are then flown to European countries like Spain. The rush of consignments is seen before the European festive season, including Christmas,” according to a senior Customs official at Petrapole.

Officials said that goods from Bangladesh are first transported by Bangladeshi trucks to Petrapole, where they go through inspections by land port and customs officials. After that, Indian trucks move the consignments to airports in Kolkata or Delhi.

“Every day, 150-200 trucks enter from Bangladesh, of which around 15-20 carry transshipment commodities. From India, around 400 trucks go to the Bangladesh side. Ever since we received the notification, no transhipment consignments have been allowed. However, normal import-export truck movement as well as passenger movement between the two countries continues,” Kartik Chakraborty, secretary of the Petrapole Clearing Agents’ Staff Welfare Association, shared his views.

“Four trucks stationed on the Bangladesh side (Benapole land port) returned to the country yesterday. Most transshipment consignments from Petrapole used to go to Kolkata airport and then to foreign countries, either directly or via Delhi airport. This is bad news for exporters of Bangladesh, mainly garment exporters. It was cheaper and easier to send through India. Indian truck owners that used to carry the consignments from Petrapole to Kolkata or Delhi airports will suffer losses too. So will labourers who unload and load the consignments in Petrapole,” Sajedur Rehman, secretary of the Clearing Agents Staff Association in Benapole, Bangladesh, spoke to The Indian Express over the phone.

Petrapole, located around 80 kilometres from Kolkata on the India-Bangladesh border, is South Asia’s largest land port. In the 2023–2024 period, it facilitated trade worth Rs 30,42,092 crore and saw the movement of 23,48,707 people between the two nations.