By Sujit Chakraborty,

Agartala, Sep 14 (IANS) Business in India's northeast would get a major boost if the region is allowed to use Bangladeshi ports for speedier transportation of goods, said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

"Business between India's northeast and Southeast Asia would grow if we are allowed to use the Bangladeshi ports of Chittagong and Ashuganj for ferrying goods and other raw materials," the chief minister told IANS.

Chittagong port is just 75 km from south Tripura's border town of Sabroom, while the Ashuganj port is 25 km from state capital Agartala.

"It took about three months by road to transport four turbines for a thermal power plant from West Bengal's Haldia to Ramchandranagar in west Tripura. It would have taken about two days to transport the turbines from Haldia to Chittagong port and another week by road from there to west Tripura," a state industry and commerce department official said.

"A pre-requisite for realising the prospect of these trade opportunities would be the development of transit and trans-shipment facilities via existing communication links in Bangladesh," the chief minister said.

Experts say Bangladesh would benefit immensely if India was allowed to access its ports. "The northeastern market is estimated to be about Rs.200 billion and this could help Bangladesh ease its trade deficit with India," Sarkar said.

Agartala is at a distance of 2,637 km from New Delhi, but just 150 km from Dhaka. The direct distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Bangladesh is about 350 km only.

The official India-Bangladesh annual trade only through Tripura is just over Rs. 300 million.

Trade and business representatives from the northeast are visiting Dhaka soon to sort out the existing hurdles of import-export with Bangladesh and also urge Dhaka to allow India use its ports.

"Although cross-border contact and movement of people are known throughout, but they have not led to any strong economic interdependence between the northeastern region and the neighbouring countries," said M.L. Debnath, secretary of the Tripura Chambers of Commerce and Industries.

The demand for starting border trade with neighbouring South Asian countries has gathered momentum with MPs from the northeast meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month.

"We requested the prime minister to take up the matter with Dhaka to provide access to Bangladeshi ports, roads and other rail communications for the economic benefit of both the northeastern region and Bangladesh," said Khagen Das, an MP from Tripura.