Finance, commerce, science and technology adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Sunday defended the decision of exporting 3,000 tonnes of hilsa to India on the eve of Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Hindu community.
The amount is less than even one per cent of the overall annual production of around 5.5 lakh tonnes hilsa, said the adviser while defending his decision.
Talking to reporters at his secretariat office he said there were lots of emotional involvements with the country鈥檚 biggest neighbour India.
The hilsa netted in Bangladesh has high demand India and it is considered a delicacy during Durga Puja celebrated by millions of people in West Bengal and other parts of India.聽
The hilsa export announcement has come as a major surprise to fish importers of Kolkata, capital city of the West Bengal, who had all but given up hope of importing the silver delights.
It also came against the backdrop that the prices of hilsa had continued rising in Bangladesh over the past few years, leaving the majority of people deprived of this favourite fish.
Terming such observation as emotional, the finance adviser said the decision had been taken after lot of homework.
鈥楾he decision is linked to trade benefits鈥�, he said, adding that many hilsas are smuggled to Kolkata round the year.
Previously, the interim government adviser to the fisheries ministry, Farida Akhter, announced that the government would not export hilsa to India this year in order to enhance domestic supply.
Asked to comment over the statement by Farida Akhter, the finance adviser said some more illustrious adviser had positive recommendation for the export.
On Monday, Farida Akhter said the commerce ministry had granted permission to export Hilsa fish to India in response to a 鈥榮pecial request鈥� from the neighbouring country due to the Durga Puja festival.
Speaking to reporters at the ministry, she clarified that the decision was made independently by the ministry of commerce in the context of India鈥檚 request.
Salehuddin Ahmed said the decision would serve greater interest of the country while India lifted export duty on onion which will reduce the import costs of the item.
Answering another question, he said the price hike of the item should not be linked to the export.
This year, the prices of hilsa have increased significantly, even during the peak fishing season.
Hilsa weighing about 1 kilogram is being sold for Tk聽1,500 to Tk聽1,900, while the fish weighing less than 1 kilogram is priced between Tk聽900 and Tk聽1,300 a kilogram on the kitchen markets in the capital Dhaka.
The businessmen hiked the price of the hilsa, said Salehuddin.
In 2023, the government decided to permit the export of 5,000 tonnes of hilsa to India on the eve of Durga Puja.
In the first phase in 2023, initially 79 exporters received permission to export 3,950 tonnes of hilsa, and subsequently, a few other exporters were granted permission for exports.
