Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) saw a growth of 25 per cent in RMG exports in first quarter 2024 which includes India as well as Bangladesh exports. This might be due to Red Sea crisis and also may be shifting of some orders from Bangladesh to India.
CT Bureau
Due to Bangladesh crisis, are we expecting any impact on freight movement between Bangladesh, India, Europe and rest of the world and vice versa?
The ongoing crisis in Banglad esh has impacted garments exports out of Bangladesh. Around 1,000 manufacturing units, producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Zara were shut down. The supply chain is impacted for the time being. But we are hopeful the situation will improve soon.
Are consignments stuck between Bangladesh-India or at Delhi? Are the consignments mostly garments?
Bangladesh is a country where 85 per cent exports are ready made garments. As of now, there are some supply chain disruptions due to which many production houses are closed. Many trucks carrying finished goods are stuck inside Bangladesh. We are in touch with our partners, and we hope the situation will improve soon and trucks will be able to arrive at Delhi.
Ever since the start of problems in that country we haven’t seen any major freight movement on this corridor or is that seasonal in nature?
DEL processed 13,000 MT of Bangladesh cargo last financial year. The peak season of garment exports starts from August to December and then February-March every year. We, at DEL saw a growth of 25 per cent in RMG exports in Q1 of 2024, which includes India as well as Bangladesh exports. This might be due to Red Sea conflict and also may be shifting of some orders from Bangladesh to India.
Volumes from Bangladesh have reduced by almost 30 per cent in Q1 of 2024 vs last quarter of 2023. This might be due to first quarter being the lean season for RMG export industry and the ongoing situation in Bangladesh.
What steps are being taken/planned to address the issue?
We are continuously in touch with our partners in Bangladesh and evaluating the situation. We are in touch with Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Petrapole, West Bengal, to help trade with streamlining of the supply chain disruptions. We have chalked out the operations plans at Delhi to fast process the cargo as and when it reaches Delhi International Airport once the situation is streamlined. In normal course to manage any increased volumes, DIAL has implemented several proactive measures:
- Enhanced screening capacity: Installed two additional X-ray machines and increased staffing at both terminals.
- Optimised cargo handling: Opened extra truck docks, handled two trucks simultaneously, and allocated dedicated space for truck staging inside and outside the cargo terminal in order to avoid congestion.
- Minimised disruptions: Processed Dhaka-bound cargo during the off-peak hours and provided extra airside storage for up to 100 ULDs.
