Historic Brahmaputra Cargo Voyage
First Upper Assam Cargo Shipment Departs for Bangladesh via Brahmaputra River
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A barge carrying 540 tonnes of methanol produced by Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd in Namrup departed Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh for Narayanganj, near Dhaka. The shipment marks the first cargo shipment from upper Assam to a foreign port since India’s independence and will travel about 1,300 km via the Brahmaputra’s National Waterway-2 and the India-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The voyage is testing the Brahmaputra’s potential as a commercially viable freight corridor that could give Assam and the wider Northeast another route to regional markets and reduce reliance on road and rail transport. Customs and immigration facilities at Bogibeel and Dhubri have enabled the shipment, and officials plan regular methanol cargo movements to Bangladesh.
Key Points
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The vessel is the DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar; it will cover about 768 km on National Waterway-2 before reaching the India-Bangladesh border.
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Dibrugarh’s river trade has a long history: government steamers reached the town by 1856, and steamers were making daily trips up the Brahmaputra by 1913. Partition disrupted the route, and a 1950 earthquake changed the riverbed.
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Sonowal called the voyage the start of a new route, saying, “This is the first voyage, not the last,” and said India is working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar on regional waterway links.
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The Economic Times reported that fixed-schedule cargo services under the Jalvahak scheme are part of efforts to restore Dibrugarh’s river connectivity. Sonowal also said waterways use less fuel per tonne of cargo and can mean fewer trucks on highways.
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