SIKKIM: Nathu-la trade in 5th year, items on lists same

source: THE TELEGRAPH



Gangtok, April 19: The Nathu-la border trade with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China is set to start on May 3, but with the same list of obsolete items that traders on both sides of the border have been complaining for the past four years.

The trade will continue till November 30 when the pass at 14,420ft closes down for winter.

Under the bilateral agreement between India and China, there are 29 exportable items. Sikkim traders are allowed to export them to TAR. But the Indian business community can import only 15 items some of them as obsolete as goatskin and sheepskin.

From the time trade through the pass started in 2006, the traders have been demanding that the Centre let them do business with more feasible and marketable commodities. The state government, too, had demanded the inclusion of local products like handicrafts and cash crops in the border trade.

Sikkim Chamber of Commerce president S.K. Sarda said: “Whenever we approach the Union commerce and industries ministry regarding the revision of trade items, the officials tell us that the file is being processed.”

However, local trader Anil Kumar Gupta is optimistic that it will be a good season this time in terms of volume and participating traders. Both have increased, he said.

The export figure for the last season was Rs 135 lakh while import stood at Rs 2.96 lakh. “We are expecting the export figure to cross Rs 2 crore this time,” said Gupta.

A section of traders expects the list to be revised after the border infrastructure is completed on the Indian side.

Currently, the Border Roads Organisation is widening the 51-km-long Jawaharlal Nehru Marg that connects Gangtok with Nathu-la. The double-laning of the road started in 2007 and is estimated to cost around Rs 780 crore.

Sarda said traders will benefit more from the next season when the Nathu-la trade completes five years. According to the bilateral agreement, he claimed, the border trade is supposed to be declared “international” then, which would mean more import and export.

A state government press release said trade would be allowed from Monday to Thursday from 730am till 3.30pm.

Since “border trade” can be done only with items produced near the border, the Centre has fixed a limited currency of Rs 1 lakh per day for each trader.

This year, till today, 135 traders have applied for trade passes with the East District collector. Every year, the traders have to apply afresh.