Bangladesh to import coal from Indonesia or China

The caretaker government in Bangladesh has directed its Importers and Exporters Federation to import coal from Indonesia or China, reported the United News of India Sunday.

Bangladesh late June decided to ban import of coal from coal from two Indian states - Meghalaya and Assam - due to high sulphur content which is at about seven to nine percent, fearing environmental and health hazard.

"We have asked our importers in Bangladesh to negotiate with their government to withdraw the banned on import of coal from Meghalaya," Indian coal exporter R C Agarwal told UNI.

This was not the first time that the Bangladesh authorities had banned import of such coal from India, he said.

However, Dhaka withdrew the order after Bangladesh importers pressed hard to allow the import of coal from Meghalaya due to reasonable rate, compared to coal from Indonesia and China.

Mr Agarwal said the coal embargo would hit Indian exporters and the Centre would be losing Rs 200 crore of foreign exchange through export of this mineral.

The decision of the Bangladesh government had also affected many of the people living on both sides of the international border, whose livelihood is through their tea stalls, the UNI said.