Dibrugarh: A cargo vessel carrying 540 metric tons of methanol left the Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh for Pangaon Port in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Monday, marking the first cargo shipment from upper Assam to a foreign port since India’s independence in 1947.
The vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar, was flagged off by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal from Bogibeel. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the programme virtually.
The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL) at Namrup, is packed in 27 containers. The vessel is expected to reach Bangladesh in about seven days.
It will travel around 768 kilometres along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra to the Indo-Bangladesh border before continuing through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The total journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in Dhaka will cover about 1,300 kilometres.
Another vessel is scheduled to leave within the next few days. The two vessels will together transport 1,080 tonnes of methanol produced by APCL to Bangladesh.
The shipment was made possible after customs and immigration complexes were recently established at Bogibeel and Dhubri. Regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are also planned.
“Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent, and the ships stopped coming,” Sonowal said. “Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it.”
Sarma described the occasion as a proud day for Assam.
“Assam’s own product, made in Namrup, is now travelling to an international market on Assam’s own river,” he said. “The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India’s gateway to the East.”
Sonowal said the shipment marked the beginning of renewed river connectivity from Dibrugarh.
“This is the first voyage, not the last,” he said. “To the youth of Assam I say: Dream with this river. The world is no longer far away. It is downstream. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dibrugarh, the Tea Capital of India, is reclaiming the glory it once had as a great river port. We are building it with world-class infrastructure while honouring its heritage. The steamer whistle that fell silent in 1956 is heard again,” Sonowal said.
Dibrugarh was once among the busiest river ports in eastern India. Government steamers reached the town from Calcutta, now Kolkata, by 1856. The Dibru-Sadiya Railway began operating from the Dibrugarh steamer ghat in 1882, while steamers were sailing daily up the Brahmaputra to the town by 1913, carrying tea, timber and passengers.
The 1947 Partition disrupted the route, forcing Assam’s goods to pass through East Pakistan to reach Calcutta. A 1950 earthquake also altered the riverbed at Dibrugarh. Regular bookings from Dibrugarh Ghat stopped in 1954, and the ghat closed on October 15, 1956, as tea shipments shifted to rail. The 1965 India-Pakistan war later suspended cross-border river trade.
India and Bangladesh signed a river trade protocol in 1972. In 1988, the 891-kilometre stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri was declared National Waterway-2. Regular cargo service on the waterway began in December 2017, when cement was transported from Pandu to Dhubri.
“For decades, that glory was allowed to fade. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we set out to give Dibrugarh back its rightful place. The Bogibeel terminal, the customs and immigration complex and fixed-schedule cargo services under ‘Jalvahak’ are giving this historic town modern amenities and world-class infrastructure. We are building for the future while reinstating the heritage that made Dibrugarh great. Today, as cargo leaves Dibrugarh for a foreign port once again, the town’s proud past and its promising future meet on the same river,” Sonowal added.
Activity on the route has increased in recent years. Tata Steel barges reached Pandu through Bangladesh in February 2022, while the river cruise ship MV Ganga Vilas travelled from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh in 2023.
The Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal, whose foundation stone was laid in July 2023, opened in February 2024. The ‘Jalvahak’ cargo incentive programme was launched in December 2024.
According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, cargo movement on India’s national waterways increased from 18 million metric tons in 2013-14 to 218 million metric tons in 2025-26. More than Rs 68 billion is being invested in waterways across the Northeast, including the development of National Waterway-2, a ship repair facility at Pandu and last-mile connectivity to Pandu Port.
“Every ton we move on the river means less fuel burnt and fewer trucks on the highway,” Sonowal said. He added that India is working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar on regional waterway links.
The voyage involved the Inland Waterways Authority of India, Assam Petro-Chemicals, Cochin Bunkers Pvt. Ltd. and partners in Bangladesh.
Assam ministers Charan Boro, Bimal Borah and Sushanta Borgohain attended the event, along with Rajya Sabha member Terash Gowalla. State legislators, including Prasanta Phukan from Dibrugarh and Chakradhar Gogoi from Khowang, were also present.
IWAI Chief Engineer AK Bansal and APCL Chairman Bikul Ch. Deka attended the event along with officials from APCL, IWAI and the Assam government.