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Coal import from India restarts today

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet
Being suspended (or a fortnight, coal import from the Indian states of Meghalaya and Assam will resume today through land custom stations of Sylhet-Mymensingh region, officials said yesterday
A decision was taken to allow import of the item for the next one year at a meeting held at the commerce ministry on July 8.
Officials and representatives of the National Board ot Revenue (NBR), Environment Directorate, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Coal Importers Group of Sylhet were present at the meeting.
"An order in this regard reached Sylhet on Tuesday and the import will resume Thursday." said an official at the customs commissionerate in Sylhet yesterday.
The decision to allow coal import was taken considering the dependence on the item for burning bricks in the region, business leaders said.
Over 30.000 labourers went jobless as coal import from the Indian states through the land custom stations of Sylhet and Mymensingh regions remained suspended since July 1.
Considering the environmental concerns, the government in 2001 banned import of low quality coal, having more than 1 percent
sulphur content.
But being pressed by the businessmen, the government later gave coal import permission on a half-yearly basis as a temporary measure. June 30 was the latest deadline.
Bangladesh’s brick kilns and other businesses have a huge demand for coal from the Indian state of Meghalaya that costs only $48 per tonne and has more than 1 percent sulphur content.
Local Barapukuria coal costs $95 per tonne, and so the businesses prefer Meghalayan coal despite its high sulphur content, importers said.
Such imported low-cost coal is used mainly in brick kilns in greater Sylhet region (around 85 percent) and other parts of the country.
A three-member team comprising Sylhet Coal Importers' Group President Dilwar Hossain, General Secretary Falah Uddin Ali Ahmed and Director of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Kolondor Ali met the finance minister and commerce secretary in the capital recently.
Also a former president of Sylhet Coal Importers' Group. Kolondor Ali said around 14 lakh tonnes of coal are imported every year through the four land custom stations in Sylhet region, one in Mymensingh and one in Rangpur.
The government earns around Tk 150 crore a year in revenue from coal import, he said.