1st cargo vessel from Assam to Bangladesh flagged off since Independence

A barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol left the Bogibeel terminal on the Brahmaputra river in Assam’s Dibrugarh for Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday. This marked the first cargo shipment from Upper Assam to a foreign port since India’s independence in 1947, nearly 70 years after the town’s river ghat was closed.

Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel in presence of a large number of dignitaries including several ministers, MPs, MLAs. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the event virtually.

The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. (APCL) at Namrup, is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka. The vessel will travel about 768 kilometres down National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra river to the Indo-Bangladesh border, then continue along the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).

It will cover a total distance of 1,300 kms from Bogibeel in Dibrugarh to Narayanganj in Dhaka.

The voyage is being observed as a test of whether the Brahmaputra can serve as a commercially viable freight corridor linking the Northeast to overseas markets.

“Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent and the ships stopped coming,” Sonowal said. “Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it.” Sonowal added.

“Assam’s own product, made in Namrup, is now traveling to an international market on Assam’s own river. The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India’s gateway to the East,” he said. Sonowal said the shipment was a beginning. “This is the first voyage, not the last,” he said.

Sarma also called it a proud day for Assam.

Dibrugarh was once among the busiest river ports in eastern India. Government steamers reached the town from Calcutta, now Kolkata, by 1856. In 1882, the Dibru-Sadiya Railway began operating from the Dibrugarh steamer ghat. By 1913, steamers sailed up the Brahmaputra to the town daily, carrying tea, timber and passengers.

The 1947 partition cut that route, forcing Assam’s goods to pass through East Pakistan to reach Calcutta. A 1950 earthquake disturbed the riverbed at Dibrugarh. Regular bookings from Dibrugarh Ghat stopped in 1954, and the ghat closed on October 15, 1956, as tea shipments shifted to rail.

The 1965 war between India and Pakistan suspended cross-border river trade.

India and Bangladesh signed a river trade protocol in 1972. In 1988, the 891-kilometer stretch of river Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2. Regular cargo service on the waterway did not begin until December 2017, when cement moved from Pandu to Dhubri.

“For decades, that glory was allowed to fade. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we set out to give Dibrugarh back its rightful place. The Bogibeel terminal, the customs and immigration complex and fixed schedule cargo services under ‘Jalvahak’ are giving this historic town modern amenities and world-class infrastructure. We are building for the future while reinstating the heritage that made Dibrugarh great. Today, as cargo leaves Dibrugarh for a foreign port once again, the town’s proud past and its promising future meet on the same river,” Sonowal added.

Activity on the route has grown since then. Tata Steel barges reached Pandu through Bangladesh in February 2022, and the river cruise ship MV Ganga Vilas sailed from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh in 2023. The Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal, whose foundation stone was laid in July 2023, opened in February 2024. The ‘Jalvahak’ cargo incentive program launched in December 2024.

According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), cargo on India’s national waterways rose from 18 million metric tons in fiscal 2013-14 to 218 million metric tons in 2025-26.

More than 68 billion rupees (about $770 million) is being invested in waterways across the Northeast, including development of National Waterway-2, a ship repair facility at Pandu and lastmile connectivity to Pandu Port.

“Every ton we move on the river means less fuel burnt and fewer trucks on the highway,” Sonowal said. He added that India is working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar on regional waterway links. The voyage involved the Inland Waterways Authority of India, Assam Petro Chemicals, Cochin Bunkers Pvt. Ltd. and partners in Bangladesh.