Announcing this in a press release, the Indian High Commission at Dhaka said that the consignment carried 384 tonnes of dry chillies carried in 16 high capacity parcel vans. The Special Parcel Express (SPE) had started from Reddipalem in Guntur on Friday which reached Benapole covering a distance of 1372 kilometres.
The transportation cost by railways works out to be cheaper compared to road transport.
Bangladesh has a high demand for spices like dry chillies, turmeric, ginger, onion and cumin seeds from India. The export of spices from India to Bangladesh had been affected as the transport services between the two countries got disrupted due to COVID-19 related restrictions since March.
Earlier the High Commission of India had proposed to the Bangladesh Railways to facilitate parcel train service between India and Bangladesh to minimise the supply chain disruption. The parcel train service was mobilised after concurrence from the Bangladesh Railways.
The services are expected to boost the bilateral trade between the two countries.