DHAKA, August 12, The Voice — India has expanded its curbs on Bangladeshi jute goods arriving by land, ordering that imported sacks, bags, woven jute fabrics and jute twine/cordage/rope may now enter only via Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva seaport, effective immediately, according to India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
The move extends a June order that first restricted a wider set of jute and bast-fibre items to sea entry, and follows New Delhi’s April withdrawal of a transshipment facility for Bangladeshi exports through Indian land borders.
What changed
The fresh notice names four additional categories—bleached/unbleached woven jute fabrics; jute twine/cordage/rope; and jute sacks and bags—now barred from all India–Bangladesh land ports.
Imports of these items are permitted only through Nhava Sheva. PTI, The Times of India and Business Standard reported the order on Monday; a related DGFT notice in late June had already shifted other jute items to sea-only entry.
Why now
Indian media frame the curbs as part of a tightening trade posture amid strained ties, with authorities simultaneously reviewing long-standing anti-dumping duties on jute imports from Bangladesh and Nepal. The DGTR’s review follows a duty first imposed in 2017 and extended in 2022.
The measures also come after a sequence of India’s port restrictions this year—May limits on Bangladeshi garments and selected processed foods to specific seaports, the June jute curbs, and now Monday’s expansion.
Economic stakes
Land routes are the lifeline of two-way trade, with the Petrapole–Benapole crossing historically handling the bulk of bilateral flows; rerouting through Nhava Sheva raises transit times and costs for Kolkata-centric buyers of Bangladeshi jute.
Local industry and trade bodies on both sides warn that sea rerouting erodes price advantages and could squeeze working capital. Recent reporting cites extra freight of around $100 per tonne after June’s order, while West Bengal jute mills say Nhava Sheva routing drives up costs and undercuts competitiveness.
Bangladesh’s jute and jute-goods exports have already been under pressure, slipping from $1.16 billion in FY21 to about $820 million in FY25, EPB data show. Any further frictions with India—traditionally a top buyer and transit partner—risk deepening that slide.
Politics in the background
Bilateral strains have grown since 2024’s upheaval in Dhaka and the appointment of an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
During a March visit to Beijing, Yunus’s remarks describing India’s Northeast as “landlocked” and Bangladesh as the region’s “guardian of the ocean” drew criticism in New Delhi, Indian outlets reported. Dhaka later said the comments were well-intentioned.
What it means — and what’s next
Exporters expect higher logistics costs and longer turnarounds to squeeze margins, especially for low-value sacks and packaging materials.
Some Bangladeshi producers are pivoting toward higher-value, certified eco-products for the EU and US and urging Dhaka to seek relief via talks on port access, anti-dumping, and non-tariff barriers. India, for its part, says the restrictions improve monitoring and curb circumvention.
Trade officials on both sides say the immediate priority is to prevent consignments stuck at land stations from turning into costly demurrage disputes and to clarify documentation for sea entry at Nhava Sheva. Longer term, businesses want predictable rules across SAFTA/BBIN corridors to reduce shocks from sudden port switches.
