Assam's Dibrugarh Flags Off First International Cargo Shipment to Bangladesh via Brahmaputra Waterway

Key facts

• A barge carrying 540 metric tons of methanol left Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh for Bangladesh, the first cargo shipped from upper Assam to a foreign port since India's independence in 1947.
• Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.
• The methanol was produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. (APCL) at Namrup and is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• The vessel will travel about 768 kilometres on National Waterway-2 along the Brahmaputra to the Indo-Bangladesh border and then continue on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, covering 1,300 kilometres from Bogibeel to Narayanganj, Dhaka.
• The shipment became possible after customs and immigration complexes were set up at Bogibeel and Dhubri, and regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are planned.
• The 891-kilometre stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2 in 1988, and regular cargo service began only in December 2017 when cement moved from Pandu to Dhubri.
• Dibrugarh Ghat, once a major river port, closed on October 15, 1956, after regular bookings stopped in 1954; the 1947 partition and a 1950 earthquake had disrupted river trade.
• The Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal opened in February 2024, and the 'Jalvahak' cargo incentive program launched in December 2024.
• Cargo on India's national waterways rose from 18 million metric tons in fiscal 2013-14 to 218 million metric tons in 2025-26, and over 68 billion rupees (about $770 million) is being invested in Northeast waterways.