Cooperation Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah officially opened a Maitri Dwar and a new passenger terminal building in Petrapole, West Bengal, which were constructed by the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) at a cost of Rs. 487 crore. Aditya Mishra, Chairman of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), Daljit Singh, Director General, Border Security Force, Govind Mohan, Union Home Secretary, Shantanu Thakur, Union Minister of State, Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, and Dr. Rajendra Kumar, Secretary, Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, graced the inauguration ceremony.
Along with strengthening ties with neighbours and promoting the exchange of language, culture, and literature, the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI), according to the union Home minister, is significantly advancing the nation’s growth. He underlined that the LPAI is working on the 4 Ps: prosperity, peace, partnership, and progress, under the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also changed the idea of the LPAI, Amit Shah said. He pointed out that while it was first thought of only as a vehicle to do business, it has since evolved into a doorway to peace and prosperity, helping to build prosperous nations, fostering legal trade to reduce illicit trade, and fostering connections with neighbouring countries. Shah stated that this terminal structure, which was constructed at an approximate cost of ₹500 crore and spans around 60,000 square meters, can accommodate 25,000 passengers every day. This will significantly increase medical and educational tourism, he continued.
According to the Union Home Minister and the Minister of Cooperation, the ₹6 crore Maitri Dwar was built to facilitate easy transportation and can accommodate more than 600 to 700 vehicles each day. The Home Minister instructed officials to plant 25,000 saplings of trees that are 200 years or older in order to ensure the preservation of the local ecology. For smooth mobility, he said, amenities including boom barriers, facial recognition devices, automatic number plate recognition, and access control for entry and departure have been installed.
Petrapole is the biggest and busiest land port in South Asia, he continued, which facilitates our travel and trade. He claimed that Petrapole accounts for 70% of all land-based trade between Bangladesh and India. He pointed out that the trade volume was ₹18,000 crore when Prime Minister Narendra Modi started this in 2016–17, but it has grown by 64% to ₹30,500 crore in 2023–24.
According to Shah, the expansion of trade will help transportation companies, result in the construction of warehouses, and provide a number of job possibilities, such as the need for porters to load and unload cargo. In 2023–2024, almost 24 lakh travelers passed through Petrapole, he noted.
According to Amit Shah, the LPAI is creating avenues for friendship in order to improve border security, trade, connectivity, and interpersonal relationships in eastern India. In addition to securing the borders, he said, the Modi administration has connected them to progress. According to Shri Shah, the LPAI is furthering Modi Ji’s goal of having robust infrastructure along the border. He clarified that the LPAI is a one-stop shop for all things related to border security, immigration, and customs. He went on to say that India now operates 12 land ports, including Attari and Moreh with Pakistan and Myanmar, Raxaul, Jogbani, and Rupaidiha with Nepal, and Petrapole, Agartala, Srimanpur, Sutarkandi, and Sabroom with Bangladesh.
According to the Union Home Minister, all of these land ports handled ₹71,000 crore in commerce in 2023–2024. In the foreseeable future, 23 more land ports are expected to be created, he said. He went on to say that a detailed plan for the full digitalization of the LPAI, which aims to minimize problems and improve security through technology, is nearly complete.
