BENAPOLE LAND PORT

It is the most important checkpost of Bangladesh as the Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA) is weighing the importance of the busiest land port Benapole on India-Bangladesh border in line with other Land Customs (LC) stations that cannot be recognized as full-fledged land ports.
Benapole (Bengali: বেনাপোল) is a township in Sharsha Upazila in the Jessore District of Bangladesh. The Petrapole Customs station of India is situated across the border and since 1971 (some sources say 1947), a large number of people have travelled between Bangladesh and India through Benapole Customs station. The railway link between Bangladesh and India through Benapole was discontinued when war broke out between Pakistan and India in September of 1965. Urbanization of Benapole started in the 1990s along the Grand Trunk Road.
On the Bangladesh-India land border, Benapole is the most important checkpost of Bangladesh and is operated by the Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA). Geographically Benapole is majot strategical point for border trading between India and Bangladesh owing ito its proximity to Kolkata. According to Land Port Authority, approximately 90 percent of the total imported items from India come through Benapole. Primarily Benapole land port was an Land Customs station and gradually it turned into a Customs Division 1984) and later Custom House (1997) in response to its rising importance as in terms of import volume. In 2009, Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith opened the newly constructed building of Benapole Customs and Immigration Check post.[1]
As of 2009, 143 staff including 9 officials and 134 employees are working at the Benapole land port. In fiscal year 1996-97 revenue realized from Benapole land port was around Taka 500 crore , at present it is Taka 850 crore.
Benapole had witnessed a rise of imports by 15 – 20 percent each year. It has become a significant revenue generator for the government since late 1980s. However, port facilities remain under-developed as yet. Carriability of the road from Benapole to Jessopre is limited notwithstanding regular maintenance. A two-member consultant team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is working to sort out improvement areas in the immigration and customs of the land port and also studying feasibility of Benapole-Petropole border as a corridor of transit in this South Asian region.