LaycanDeskKolkata to Bangladesh river barge freight - Haldia, Kolkata and Budge Budge to Narayanganj, Muktarpur, Mongla and Khulna under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol
Granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, stone chips and other bulk in 1,000 to 3,000 tonne river barges from the Hooghly to the Bangladeshi cement grinders under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, with the Chattogram and Mongla sea route as the alternative. Kolkata Dock, the Garden Reach and Budge Budge jetties and Haldia to Narayanganj, Muktarpur, Pangaon, Ashuganj, Khulna and Mongla on the protocol routes: granulated slag railed from the eastern Indian steel works, fly ash, stone chips and other bulk in Bangladesh-flag river barges of about 1,000 tonnes, fixed on the loading point at Kolkata, the receiving plant's own jetty, the 2.5 metre least available depth and Bangladesh customs at the port of call; Supramax lots via Haldia or Dhamra to the Chattogram outer anchorage or Handysize lots to Mongla are the sea-going alternative.
The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade opens 2,660 kilometres of river routes, 868 in India and 1,792 in Bangladesh, with a least available depth of 2.5 metres, connecting the Hooghly ports of Kolkata and Haldia through the Sundarbans and the Padma-Meghna system to eleven ports of call in each country plus two extended ports of call, Muktarpur and Ghorasal on the Bangladeshi side after the 2020 addendum. The route carried 4.68 million tonnes in the 2023-24 fiscal year and 3.37 million tonnes between April and December 2024 (IWAI), about 97 percent of it fly ash for the Bangladeshi cement grinders; 3.9 million tonnes moved in 3,823 voyages in January to November 2022, about 1,000 tonnes a barge, on a fleet of some 600 mostly Bangladesh-flag vessels. Granulated blast furnace slag has already moved from Kolkata on the protocol route to Pandu in 2026, and the same eastern Indian steel works rail slag to the Khidirpur siding in Kolkata Dock in 3,500 to 4,000 tonne BOXN rakes at the Indian Railways trainload class for granulated slag, 292 kilometres from Jamshedpur. The Kolkata end is the constraint: the Garden Reach and Budge Budge pontoons are built for pneumatic fly-ash loading at about five metres of water, Kolkata Dock's berths carry 7.1 to 9 metres behind locks, and a granular cargo needs a grab or payloader berth and a stevedore, so the loading point is named before anything else.
The receivers sit on the same rivers. Muktarpur at Munshiganj and Meghnaghat and Narayanganj on the Shitalakshya and Meghna hold the largest slag and clinker grinders in the country, several with their own jetties and lighter fleets, and Khulna and Mongla serve the south-west. A river stem goes to owners once the loading berth at Kolkata, Budge Budge or Haldia and its stevedore are fixed, the receiving plant confirms that its jetty takes protocol barges and states the barge size and draft it can accept, the customs port of call in each country is named, and the export documents - shipping bill, railway receipt, test certificate and origin certificate for the SAFTA preference - are with a customs house agent. Bangladesh charges five percent customs duty on granulated slag under HS 2618, India lists no export restriction on it, and the assessable value is set by Bangladesh customs, not the invoice. Where a grinder cannot take barges or the volume is a full Supramax, the same slag goes by sea from Haldia or Dhamra to the Chattogram outer anchorage and Kutubdia for lighterage, or in Handysize lots to the Mongla anchorage, and both legs are worked from this desk. Barge owners and lighter operators registered for the protocol route, and Bangladeshi grinders with their own fleets, send barge sizes, drafts and open dates; every vessel and counterparty is screened before an offer.
Indian ports of call
- Kolkata Dock (Khidirpur siding; berths 7.1–9 m behind locks)
- Garden Reach and Budge Budge inland jetties (pneumatic fly-ash pontoons, about 5 m; general-cargo jetty at Garden Reach 2)
- Haldia (about 9.1 m; dry bulk, barges load for Narayanganj)
- Also Kolaghat, Tribeni, Dhulian, Maia and the Assam ports of call
Bangladeshi ports of call
- Narayanganj and Pangaon (Dhaka river ports)
- Muktarpur (Munshiganj, extended port of call) and Ghorasal
- Ashuganj, Sirajganj, Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi, Bahadurabad
- Khulna and Mongla (south-west grinders; Mongla also a sea port)
Route and cargo
- 2,660 km of protocol routes, least available depth 2.5 m
- 4.68 Mt in FY2023-24, about 97% fly ash; about 1,000 t per barge voyage (2022)
- GBFS rakes 3,500–4,000 t BOXN, Jamshedpur to Khidirpur 292 km
- Sea alternative: Supramax via Haldia/Dhamra to Chattogram outer anchorage and Kutubdia lighterage; Handysize to Mongla
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
Which ports can a protocol barge call at?
Eleven ports of call in each country plus two extended ports of call each. On the Indian side Kolkata, Haldia, Pandu, Karimganj, Silghat, Dhubri, Dhulian, Maia, Kolaghat, Sonamura and Jogighopa, with Tribeni and Badarpur extended; on the Bangladeshi side Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj, Pangaon, Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad, with Muktarpur and Ghorasal extended. Customs clearance happens at the port of call in each country; a plant's private jetty is used only where the plant confirms it is permitted to receive protocol barges.
How big are the barges and what draft do they need?
The fleet averages about 1,000 tonnes a voyage - 3.9 million tonnes moved in 3,823 voyages in 2022 - with vessels of 800 to 3,000 tonnes in service; the protocol guarantees a least available depth of 2.5 metres, and the loading jetties at Garden Reach and Budge Budge carry about five metres. Barge age and condition matter: several fly-ash barges have sunk on the Indian stretches since 2020, so cargo insurance and a vetted operator are part of the fixture.
How does slag get onto a barge at Kolkata?
By rail to the Khidirpur siding in Kolkata Dock or to Haldia in 3,500 to 4,000 tonne BOXN rakes, then by wagon unloading, storage and a grab or payloader stevedore into the barge at a berth that takes dry bulk; the fly-ash pontoons are pneumatic and do not serve granular cargo. Port wharfage and handling are charged under the Kolkata port's scale of rates and export stock has a free period before demurrage, so barges are lined up before the rake lands.
When is the sea route the better answer?
When the grinder's jetty does not take protocol barges, when the volume is a full 50,000 to 55,000 tonne Supramax, or when the receiver is at Chattogram rather than on the Dhaka rivers. Slag from the Odisha works already goes by Supramax from Dhamra to the Chattogram outer anchorage and Kutubdia for lighterage, and Handysize lots go to the Mongla anchorage; the desk works both the river and the sea leg against the same stem.