The Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP) in Calcutta will very soon start regular cargo movement to the northeastern states through Bangladesh, a senior official said on Wednesday.

According to an agreement between the two neighbouring countries, multi-modal transit or transshipment of goods is permitted on eight routes. Goods arriving from India at Chittagong and Mongla ports can be sent to Agartala via Akhaura in Bangladesh, to Dawki in Meghalaya via Tamabil in Sylhet, Sutarkandi in Assam via Sheola, and Srimantapur in Tripura via Bibir Bazar in Comilla, and vice versa.

"Very soon we are going to start regular operations to northeastern states through Bangladesh. For that the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is already in talks with the Customs authorities and the Ministry of External Affairs," SMP deputy chairman (Kolkata) Samrat Rahi said.

He said that trial runs for the purpose have already been conducted.

He said that once regular movement is started, the northeastern states will benefit in a big way.

The Calcutta Port, which achieved a total cargo volume of 65.66 million metric tonne in the financial year 2022-23, has set a target of 70 million metric tonne in 2023-24, the official said.

Stating that SMP is trying to improve logistics and storage facilities so that better solutions can be given to businesses, he said the port trust is taking up several projects for capacity augmentation and for improvement of key capacity indicators.

The capacity of the port is likely to be doubled in four-five years with the completion of the mechanisation of facilities, he said.

The SMP is coming up with a new terminal project at Balagarh, 85 km upstream of Hooghly river, for providing easy access to cargo for the northeastern states, he added.

"Along with this, we also have the proposal for night navigation facilities so that vessels coming to and going from Calcutta can be doubled in numbers," Rahi said.

A logistic park will come up on 60 acre land in Calcutta with all modern facilities, and it will be a boon to the logistics sector of the state, he said.

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