Bangladesh is India’s major trading partner in South Asia with India having huge trade surplus with Bangladesh.  DGCI&S does not publish separate Bangladesh and Tripura trade figures. The trend of India’s trade with Bangladesh is as under:

(Value in US $ million)
Year	Exports	Imports	Total Trade	Balance of Trade
2009-10	2,433.77	254.66	2,688.44	2,179.11
2010-11	3,242.90	446.75	3,689.66	2,796.15
2011-12	3,789.20	585.73	4,374.93	3,203.47
2012-13	5,144.99	639.33	5,784.31	4,505.66
2013-14	6,166.93	484.34	6,651.27	5,682.59

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangladesh for development of Railway infrastructure to establish Agartala (India) – Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail link was signed on 16th February, 2013. This Rail link project is expected to facilitate trade and people to people exchanges between India and Bangladesh.  The project has just begun with Land acquisition being taken up and its completion date has not been finalized.  The setting up of four Border Haats along the Bangladesh-Tripura border is taking place simultaneously for which concurrence of Bangladesh side has been obtained.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Rail link agreement to facilitate cross border trade and border haats set up to enhance local commerce. India has maintained a growing trade surplus with Bangladesh from 2009-2014, marked by rising exports and expanding bilateral trade; a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to develop the Agartala-Akhaura rail link to facilitate trade and exchanges (land acquisition begun, completion date not fixed), and four Border Haats along the Bangladesh-Tripura border are being set up with Bangladesh's concurrence, as disclosed by the Minister of State in a written parliamentary reply.