Hili land port misses revenue target again

The Hili land port has failed to reach its revenue collection target for the second consecutive year by a big margin.

In 2022-23 fiscal year, the port in Hakimpur upazila of Dinajpur could collect Tk 424.31 crore in revenues, which was 30 per cent lower than the Tk 606.28 crore target set by the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The revenue collection target for 2021-22 fiscal year was Tk 381 crore, when the port earned Tk 353.41 crore, according to the port officials.

Out of the 12 months of 2021-22 fiscal year, the port failed to reach collection target in 11 months.

It successfully surpassed the target only in FY22's March when the target was Tk 48.40 crore and the port collected around Tk 56.97 crore.

In 2022's December, the port earned Tk 28.36 crore, which was nearly 60 per cent of the month's target of Tk 50.33 crore and the lowest monthly collection in 2022-23 fiscal year, according to the officials.

The traders blamed the land port's failure to reach revenue collection target on the lack of infrastructure, poor road connectivity and the banks' reluctance in opening letters of credit (LCs) for the ongoing dollar crisis.

The roads to and from the Hili land port are so dilapidated that goods-laden trucks often become victims of accidents, said Harun Ur Rashid, president of Hili Land Port Importers and Exporters Group.

Only a handful of items can be imported from India through the land port and most of them are duty-free, said Mostafizur Rahman, general secretary of the group.

The poor condition of the connecting roads and the banks' unwillingness to open LCs are pushing the traders to find other channels than the Hili port, which has played a big role in reducing the amount of the local port's revenue collection, said Jamil Hossain, general secretary of the C&F Agents Association of Hili Land Port.