Bangladeshi officials meet with Industry Minister to devise strategy for exporting methanol from Assam

A feasibility study would be conducted by Assam and Bangladesh, and a joint group would be formed consisting of chemical importers from Bangladesh and Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) officials.

A meeting on the export of methanol and formaldehyde from APL to Bangladesh was recently held at Janata Bhawan in the presence of Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary.

'The expansion project of 500TPD methanol and 200 TPD formaldehyde plant at a total cost of Rs. 1337 crore is almost complete, and Assam will soon be able to export these chemical products to Bangladesh,' Patowary said.

He also thanked Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur, Assistant High Commissioner of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, for strengthening ties between India and Bangladesh.

Following a thorough discussion, both parties agreed to conduct a feasibility study and form a joint group comprised of Bangladeshi chemical importers and APL officials.

The importers will visit the APL Namrup plant to finalise the product line and pricing. At the same time, the methanol export process to Bangladesh would begin via the Siliguri route.

The officials agreed to have a G2G intervention for chemical product certification by an accredited laboratory acceptable to both countries. They also agreed to establish a lab testing facility to streamline the two countries' chemical export process.

This was a follow-up meeting to the recent visit of the People's Republic of Bangladesh's Information and Broadcasting Minister, Hasan Mahmud, on February 24th, during which Patowary urged Bangladesh Ministry officials to capitalise on opportunities in potential Assam sectors such as ethanol, methanol, and hydrocarbon to improve trade and business.