The Hindu Business Line : Concor's barge service between Bangladesh, Kolkata yet to take off

CONTAINER Corporation of India's (Concor) bid to start barge movement of containers between Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and Narayangunge port in Bangladesh from November last has not succeeded so far.

The traders, who were earlier exuberant about the service, are believed to have backed out citing high cost of operation as the reason for their flagging interest.

Concor proposes to charge each container Rs 12,000 (to cover the cost of operation at the KDS end) plus $530 (to cover the ocean freight as well as the cost of handling at the Narayangunge end).

The uncertainty persists even as Concor completes all the formalities needed to run the service - it completed trial run in end August/early September, entered into an agreement with the joint venture company Leo Gulf, jointly promoted by India's Leonard Express and Bangladesh's Gulf Orient Seaways, and appointed the agent at the Bangladesh end.

Kolkata Port Trust too has announced promotional rates for the proposed service. The route to be followed too has been finalised. It will be KDS-Namkhana (Indian customs point)-Raimangal (last Indian point)-Shekbaria (Bangladesh custom point)-Chalna-Kaukhali-Barisal-Chandpur-Narayangunge and return.

Road is still cheap: The reason for apparent reluctance of the traders is not difficult to guess. The traders have been exploring barge movement as an alternative to road movement often hit by congestion and other problems at the Petrapole-Benapole border. Fortunately, the problem of congestion is not there right now. Also, the road transportation cost too, it is pointed out, is cheaper than that by the river route.

There is another problem. Concor targets two items, namely, rice and cotton yarn, for movement by barges between KDS and Narayangunge. However, the authorities concerned in Bangladesh are yet to clear these items for handling at Narayangunge port.

At present, these items are allowed to be handled only at Chittagong port.