Bangladesh may export 5,000 tons of ilish to India this year

News Desk :
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday indicated that permission might be granted this year for the export of up to 5,000 tons of ilish to India.

“As a gesture of goodwill, similar to previous years, the government is considering exporting ilish to India on the occasion of Durga Puja,” he said while talking with journalists at a press conference at the Secretariat after a review meeting on the price situation of essential products, reports media.

“However, no decision has been made on this matter so far.

Many have applied to the Commerce Ministry for export permission,” said the commerce minister.

“We do not generally export ilish, but just as we send mangoes, we only send ilish to India during Durga Puja for those Bangalis who, like us, enjoy eating this fish,” he said.

“We have not exported any ilish this year yet, so we might export some for these 15 days or a month,” he added.
The commerce minister said Bangladesh produces 600,000 tons of ilish annually.

“By this estimation, an average of 2,000 tons of ilish is caught daily.

We could export up to 5,000 tons, which is only two days’ production, and we will give it to them during this Durga Puja season,” Tipu Munshi said.

“We exported the same amount of ilish last year.

We had sent 3,000-5,000 tons the previous year.

I believe exporting 5,000 tons this year will not have any significant impact on the [local] market,” he said.

“So far between 60 to 65 businesses have applied for [export] permission.

Therefore, we could import 3,000-3,500 tons of ilish,” he added.0