NEW DELHI: For the first time a cargo truck from Bangladesh drove in with a Delhi bound consignment, having come seamlessly through customs free borders as part of the trial run under the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) signed last year.
The truck of Nazrul Transport Agency and Expo Freight Pvt. Ltd. from Bangladesh was dispatched from Dhaka on August 27 as part of a trial run under the BBIN agreement which is likely to facilitate cross border movement of both passenger and cargo vehicles in the sub-region.
“History was written at the Inland Customs Depot in Patparganj in East Delhi today when for the first time a cargo truck from Bangladesh drove in with a Delhi bound consignment, having come seamlessly through customs free borders,” said an official of the transport ministry.
The trial run was organized to help develop the protocols for implementing the Agreement. The cargo vehicle started its journey from Dhaka and traversing through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, UP, Haryana and Delhi travelling more than 1850 kms to reach the Custom Depot at Patparganj in New Delhi today.
The truck was issued an e-permit for the trial run through an online web based system. This will help establish a customer friendly process acceptable to and recognized by all BBIN countries.
“The consignment did not have to undergo any customs clearance at the border. Instead, when it reached the first Indian customs station at border point Petrapole, an electronic seal with GPS tracking device was fixed on the truck so that the goods could be inspected for custom clearance at Delhi rather than at the border,” the official said.
An electronic online vehicle tracking system was also installed in the truck that facilitated real time monitoring of its progress and the truck was thus allowed to pass through without delay or causing congestion. The Integrated Multi-modal Transit System Ltd (DIMTS) provided support for testing the GPS based online/live vehicle tracking by all stakeholders and agencies concerned in India and Bangladesh.
“The trial run has demonstrated that time and cost can be saved through facilitation of seamless transport through the sub-region. Cargo trucks earlier often had to be off loaded at the border and also go through customs clearance. This led to delay and often also caused damage to the goods. The steps being taken to facilitate seamless movement of cargo vehicles will give a major boost to trade and business in the sub-region,” the official added.
A trial run of passenger vehicles was also flagged off from Kolkata in India on August 30 to Khulna in Bangladesh. The operator for trial run of passenger bus was the South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC), Government of West Bengal.