Published Paper Details:

India-Bangladesh border trade is also a significant contributor of the economic activity of Tripura, which is an economically inaccessible landlocked state in North East India. During the last few years, there have been attempts to formalise the trade, introducing Integrated Check Posts (ICPs), and the implementation of operationalisation of the border port. Nonetheless, high rates of policy changes, importation, and logistical limitations remain the main factors that render the local markets volatile. In this paper, the authors examine how India-Bangladesh border trade policies affect local economy of Tripura using a doctrinal research method that is fully backed by secondary data. Tripura has a protracted international border with Bangladesh and hence the cross-border business activity has been a key to mould the economic prospects of the State. The results show that even with the gradual promotion of formalisation by border trade policies through the use of Integrated Check Posts, enhanced customs processes and systematic border haat systems, policy instability, periodical restrictions, non-tariff barriers and complex documentation, the policies have produced disproportionate effects to the small traders, producers and local informal markets. The research finds that the success of border trade in enhancing the economy of Tripura is not only determined by the development of infrastructure but also legal clarity, uniformity as well as long term stability of India-Bangladesh trade policy frameworks.