Govt allows 5000 tonnes Hilsa exports to India this year

Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to export 5000 tonnes Hilsa fish to India this year ahead of the country’s biggest religious festival Durga Puja scheduled to be celebrated in the next month.

Around 100 companies have already applied for export permission and the Commerce Ministry is making a short list of the companies by September 15, according to the Ministry sources.

Almost every year, the government sends Hilsa to India ahead of Durga Puja upon request of the Indian government as the demand for this special variety of fish rises there, especially among the people in Kolkata, during the festival.

In last year, the government allowed exporting 2,900 tonnes of Hilsa fish by 49 companies to India ahead of the biggest festival, but around 1,300 tonnes were exported during that time.

Following this, the government has decided to supervise closely the export of the designated quantity this year and an office order will be issued in this regard very soon, the Ministry sources said.

The export permits cannot be transferred to other companies or any kind of sub-contract will not be allowed. Only the authorised firms will be able to export the Hilsa shipments, they added.

Many firms, which received permits last year, failed to export the designated quantity. Some of them did not export at all. So, the government will allow the companies scrutinising their capabilities this year, they said.

According to the export policy order, the export of Hilsa from Bangladesh is banned.

However, every year before Durga Puja, a large number of exporters of the country apply to the Ministry of Commerce for permission to send Hilsa to India.

After halting the Hilsa export to India for seven years, the ministry allowed a certain amount of hilsa exports to India conditionally before Durga Puja in 2019.

The demand for Bangladeshi Hilsa increases a lot in Kolkata, India during Durga Puja. Taking this into account, usually every year at this time, Bangladesh allows export.

However, the government stopped the export in 2012 after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the Teesta water-sharing agreement.