Port of Narayanganj
Ships on the Shitalakshya River beside the Kanchpur Industrial Area in Narayanganj
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Location
CountryBangladesh
LocationNarayanganj District, Dhaka Division
Coordinates23°37′01″N 90°30′22″E / 23.617°N 90.506°E / 23.617; 90.506
UN/LOCODEBGNAR[1]
Details
Opened1862
Operated byBangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority
Owned byGovernment of Bangladesh
Type of harbourArtificial / Natural
No. of wharfs17

The Port of Narayanganj is a river port in Narayanganj, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and busiest river ports in Bangladesh; and one of the major ports of the Bengal delta. The port is located on the Shitalakshya River. The port area is home to numerous industries.

History

Narayanganj Port in 1906

The port formally began operations in 1862. Narayanganj was the principal gateway to Dacca during British rule. The port had shipping links with the major ports of Bengal, Assam and Burma, including Dacca, Calcutta, Chittagong, Akyab, Rangoon, Cachar and Sylhet. It became a center of trade in jute, timber, salt, textiles, oil, cotton, tobacco, pottery, seeds and betel nut. The British government declared it as a "Tax Free Port" in 1879.

Rally Brothers & Co. was the first company to begin the jute business in the port of Narayanganj. Numerous British companies set up trading posts in the area and used middlemen, called beparis, to source raw jute from the hinterland. A chamber of commerce was set up in 1904. In 1907–08, 20 companies were engaged in the jute trade of Narayanganj, of which 18 were European.[2] Hindu merchants opened several cotton mills in the 1920s, including the Dhakeshwari Cotton Mill, the Chittaranjan Cotton Mill and the Laxmi Narayan Cotton Mill.[3] In 1950, the Adamjee Jute Mills, the world's largest jute mill, was established near the port. The government of Pakistan developed the modern port in June 1955.[3] In the 1960s, Queen Elizabeth II, Crown Prince Akihito and King Bhumibol were among the foreign dignitaries who visited the Narayanganj port and Adamjee Jute Mills.[4][5] Kamal Hossain served as a lawyer for the English-owned and Narayanganj-based Rally Brothers company.[6]

The present-day Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in Bangladesh has its roots in the Narayanganj Chamber of Commerce (NCC) established in 1904.[7]

Port facilities

The port has a two-storied terminal building, seven RCC jetties, ten pontoon jetties and a number of warehouses covering a total floor space of 62,000 sq ft.[3] The port is linked with Dhaka by the Bangladesh Railway and three roads.

Industry

The port's surroundings are a vital manufacturing center of Bangladesh, including for the Bangladesh textile industry, shipbuilding, food processing, chemicals, pulp and paper, machinery and metal products, chemicals, wood products, consumer goods and construction materials.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "UNLOCODE (BD) - BANGLADESH". service.unece.org. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "There were 20 firms at Narayanganj in 1907-08 engaged in the purchase, bailing and supply of raw jute to Calcutta mills. Of these, 18 were in European and two in Indian ownership."https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Narayanganj
  3. 1 2 3 "Narayanganj". Banglapedia. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  4. ↑ Ashfaqur Rahman (2012-06-10). "Queen Elizabeth II: An enabling monarch". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  5. ↑ "The Adamjee Gallery | Pacific Multi Products Pvt Ltd". Pmp.com.pk. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  6. ↑ "History Wars: Kamal Hossain Interview (Part 1)". 11 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Alam, Aksadul (2014). MCCI : A Journey (PDF). Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. ISBN 978-984-33-8235-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2021.
  8. ↑ "Narayanganj | Bangladesh". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
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