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So, it takes 45 days just to deliver cotton to the mills.

However, if cotton is imported from India, it takes only two to three days to get delivery, that too at cheaper prices.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh had cut down on its imports of Indian cotton. The country, which used to source around 60 percent of its cotton from India, had reduced the level to below 30 percent as Indian cotton traders often stopped sending cotton to Bangladesh without any prior notice.

However, the scenario has somewhat reversed in recent times, with a resurgence in imports of Indian cotton, yarn and fabrics.

Showkat Aziz Russell, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), whose members are the biggest importers of Indian raw materials, said local millers and manufacturers were left with little choice but to turn to Indian goods again.

“You can say we are kind of bound to rely more on Indian goods because of the changing nature of global business trends,” Russell told The Daily Star over the phone.

This is because shorter lead times are the main factor in business, he said, adding that Indian cotton can be imported in two to three days.

Moreover, Indian yarn, cotton, chemicals and other industrial raw materials are cheaper, he said.

Md Abdul Wahed, joint secretary general of the India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said trade with India currently takes place through 24 land ports and three rail ports alongside airports and seaports.

So, as all the ports are operational and border security has been tightened, trade through informal channels is almost impossible now, he added.

Monsoor Ahmed, a former chief executive officer of the BTMA, said many local businessmen had no choice but to source raw materials from India as banks in other countries were reluctant to accept letters of credit (LCs) because of the US dollar shortage in Bangladeshi banks.

Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development, said the Indian economy is complimentary to Bangladesh’s industries as India is the second-largest source of industrial raw materials in the world after China.

It is also true that geographical proximity, familiarity with the language and a similar culture also contribute to higher import dependence on Indian goods, Razzaque added.

The most-imported items were cotton, manmade fibre, fabrics, cotton and non-cotton yarn, textile chemicals and others, according to data from India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

On the other hand, Bangladesh has hardly been able to capitalise on duty-free trade benefits with India, with exports to the country still slow because of a lack of product diversity.

Bangladesh exported $970 million worth of goods, mainly garment items, to India in the July-December period of the current fiscal year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh.

In FY24, Bangladesh’s exports to India totalled $1.56 billion, an 11.63 percent decline from the $1.77 billion exported the previous fiscal year.