Story perspectives

540-ton methanol barge launches Assam-Bangladesh freight corridor test

By Drooid · Oct 6, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the DLB Patkai barge carrying 540 tonnes of methanol to Bangladesh.
The barge left Bogibeel terminal in Dibrugarh, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar.
Officials said the voyage tests the Brahmaputra’s viability as a freight corridor for the Northeast.
Customs complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri enabled the first international cargo from upper Assam since 1947.

History

Historical Context

India and Bangladesh signed the 1995 Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, negotiated by Arun Jaitley and Saifur Rahman, opening the Brahmaputra-Meghna waterway with a 1.5 million-tonne cargo forecast and reinforced by 2015 transit protocols and the 2011 Tin Bigha corridor cutting transport costs. Today Assam Minister Sarbananda Sonowal launched a 540-tonne methanol barge from Bogibeel, testing the freight corridor envisioned in that pact.

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Story summary

Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the DLB Patkai barge carrying 540 tonnes of methanol to Bangladesh.
The barge left Bogibeel terminal in Dibrugarh, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar.
Officials said the voyage tests the Brahmaputra’s viability as a freight corridor for the Northeast.
Customs complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri enabled the first international cargo from upper Assam since 1947.

1 / 2