Bangladesh has become the fourth largest destination for exports from India overtaking Hong Kong in the first three months of the ongoing calendar year, according to Indian Commerce Ministry data.
India’s exports to Bangladesh rose 46 percent on an annual basis at 3.16 billion USD during the January to March period, securing the fourth position after the US (15.41 billion USD), China (5.92 billion USD) and UAE (5.34 billion USD), reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting the data.
Indian merchandise exports to Bangladesh, which saw a 35.14 percent year-on-year growth to 0.95 billion USD in January and 17 percent to 0.94 billion USD in February, rose to 1.26 billion USD in March.
Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said two main reasons for increased export to Bangladesh is a sharp rise in export of farm produce and seamless movement of goods from India to the country via rail and waterways compared to other export destinations in the US and Europe due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Major contributors to the increase in exports to Bangladesh in 2020-21 are petroleum products and agricultural commodities like rice (other than basmati), according to India Exim Bank’s Chief General Manager (Research and Analysis) David Sinate.
Exports also jumped due to a sharp reduction in import duty on rice (from 62.5 percent to 25 percent) by Bangladesh.