NEW DELHI /AGARTALA, August 16 (TIWN): Earlier before Partition, the border was opened and people-to-people contact was close. So, informal trade continued due to proximity and virtual absence of linguistic and cultural differences. There is no Land Custom Station in many areas of the border, where informal trade flourishes. Now we need to formalize the informal trade so that trade occurs legally and government also earn revenues. The only options remaining with us are formation of Border Haats,” Jiten Chowdhury said.

With two 'border haats' already operational with Bangladesh, the tiny northeastern state of Tripura wants more. We have identified possible locations. We want 100 border haats all along the border with Bangladesh," said Tripura MP Jiten Choudhury. Choudhury was formerly Industry and Commerce Minister of Tripura before moving to the parliament in 2014.He took the main initiative for operational sing the 'border haats' with Bangladesh. Tripura has operationalised two 'border haats' at Kamalasagar and Srinagar.

The decision to set up border haats in different parts of the North East was taken in a meeting between the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh in January, 2010.

The objective of setting up of such markets on the border is to encourage selling and buying of locally produced goods. The haat which was constructed at Srinagar this year would be officially inaugurated after getting permission from the Ministries of Commerce of India and Bangladesh.
"Trade is picking up sharply in both the haats. We feel encouraged to ask for more," Choudhury told to TIWN in Tripura .He said he has raised this demand for more 'border haats' in the recent session of Indian parliament. Even Meghalaya, another northeast Indian state, has asked for 22 'border haats' with Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh agreed to open 'border haats' for encouraging local-level cross-border trade to benefit populations there.

Moreover Bangladesh and India decided to double purchase limit at ‘border haats’. Now a buyer will be able to purchase goods worth $200 (Tk 15,560) at these ‘haats’ as the two neighbours gear up to set up more such markets to boost bilateral ties and trade.The decision was taken at a meeting of the commerce ministry to renew an MoU on Bangladesh-India ‘border haat.’The neighbours are also planning to double the number of vendors at the ‘haats’. Twenty-five vendors sell goods at each ‘haat’, but the neighbours are contemplating to double the number.‘Border haats’ have been set up to facilitate marketing of products produced by inhabitants of remote border regions.

Commerce ministry’s Additional Secretary Manoj Kumar Roy told the ministry took the view of stakeholders after India proposed to double the purchase ceiling and number of vendors.“Everyone has agreed to double the purchase limit and number of vendors,” he said. An MoU would be signed once the decision was implemented, he added.