KOLKATA, Sep 15: The first shipment of Padma Hilsa Fish weighing approximately 1000 grams to 1200 gms from Bangladesh reached in West Bengal on Tuesday. Hilsa, a sea-water fish makes its way into the fresh waters sometimes ravelling up to 1300-km during the mating season.
The government of Bangladesh which produces almost 75% of world’s total fish production approved the export of nearly 1500 tonnes of Hilsa (fish) to India as a gesture of goodwill on the occasion of Durga Puja.
The consignment will arrive in India in batches over a month as the Ministry of Commerce has permitted nine local companies to export the Hilsa.
Bangladesh Government has imposed a ban on the export of Hilsa to India in 2012 after Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister, opposed the Teesta water-sharing pact; however last year, the Bangladesh government led by Sheikh Hasina had lifted the export ban on Hilsa for a short period from September 28 to October 10 during the Durga Puja and had sent 500 tonnes of the variety.
Paradoxically, the recent ban on the export of onion announced by the Indian Government is causing inconveniences to many Asian nations like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal and Sri Lanka as they rely heavily on Indian shipments.
India is the biggest supplier of onions to Bangladesh which annually buy over 350,000 tonnes.
Mohammad Jafar Uddin, the commerce secretary of Bangladesh, had said his country was turning to other countries for supplies of onions. “Our target is to import onions in the shortest possible time. The government is importing 100,000 tonnes of onions from Turkey and other countries,” he said.
India in the current year has suffered heavy damages in onion production due to excess rainfall. India’s key onion-producing states have received an average of 41 per cent more rains than the average rainfall causing production damage and rise in the prices in the domestic market which forced the government to impose ban on exports even though the demand from the international market had also gone up this year for similar reasons.
(Venkatesh Iyer)