Tripura has recognised as top performer in logistics ease across different states (LEADS) index of Ministry of Commerce and Industries
among northeastern states and Tripura has been awarded first prize for the best performance. The LEADS index is an effort by the Industries and Commerce Ministry to establish the foundation of performance in the logistics sector based on the perception of users and stakeholders at state level, which attempted to measure logistics efficiency of the state and is based on nine parameters.
The availability of logistics infrastructure, quality of logistics infrastructure, quality of logistics services provided by the service providers, ease of arranging logistics at competitive rates, timeliness of cargo delivery, ease of track and trace, safety/security of cargo movement, state facilitation and coordination and efficiency of regulatory processes have the criteria to judge performance.
In the meeting Board of Trade last week chaired by Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Piyush Goyal, principal secretary of Industries S R Kumar stated that industrial development in the Northeast is possible only if our economy is integrated with the economy of Bangladesh and ASEAN countries for which the state government has been working ambitiously.
He also emphasized the need to take up immediate up-gradation of road from Ramgarh to Baraiyarhat in Bangladesh to ensure connectivity to Chittagong via existing highways of Bangladesh. The connectivity from Cox’s Bazar to India -Myanmar – Thailand Trilateral Highway should be ensured so that Tripura’s economy could be integrated with ASEAN countries.
He further informed that the volume of export from Tripura to Bangladesh was low due to restrictions imposed by the Government of Bangladesh on the imports of commodities. Even, when restrictions are removed on imports from Tripura, the Government of Bangladesh levies high import duty on Tripura’s products, making export from Tripura unviable. However, due to lack of physical and regulatory infrastructure on Bangladesh side, it is difficult to export perishable goods like fruits, vegetables etc.
