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Less than 150 tonne of hilsa arrive in WB, Tripura from Bangladesh; high price keeps buyers away
Bangladeshi hilsa imports to West Bengal and Tripura drop to 144 tonnes this year, with prices soaring to ₹2,500–2,700 per kilo, traders report.
Less than 150 tonnes of Bangladeshi hilsa fish have reached West Bengal and Tripura this year, while the last consignment is expected to arrive on Saturday, fish importers in Kolkata said.
This is the least amount of hilsa imported from Bangladesh in recent times, traders said.
“This year, the Bangladesh government allowed only 1,200 tonnes of hilsa to be exported to India ahead of the Durga Puja. But so far, only around 144 tonnes have reached West Bengal and Tripura. The last consignment is expected to reach on October 4,” said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the fish importers body in Kolkata.
Hilsa is often tagged as the ‘Queen of Fish’ for its taste and the Bangladeshi hilsa found in the Padma River is considered to be of superior quality than its Indian counterpart, which is found in the Hooghly River in West Bengal. Outside West Bengal, the Bangladeshi hilsa is in great demand in Assam and Tripura.
“But as production was less this year, the fish which were being imported had hefty price tags. At the wholesale market, it was selling at ₹2,000 per kilo. The price shot up further when the fish reached the retail markets in Kolkata making it almost impossible for the people to buy it,” he said.
In 2019, the Bangladesh government allowed 500 tonnes to be exported. In 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 around 1,850 tonnes, 4,600 tonnes, 2,900 tonnes and 3,950 tonnes, respectively, were allowed. But as the trade window was short, the entire consignment could never be imported.
“In 2022, 2023 and 2024, only around 1,300 tonnes, 587 tonnes and 577 tonnes, respectively, of hilsa could reach India during the festive season,” Maqsood said.
Fish traders in Kolkata’s markets said they were hardly procuring the fish from the importers as each kilo would cost around ₹2,500–2,700 in the retail market.
“Who would purchase a fish with such a huge price tag? Hence, we didn’t procure the Bangladeshi hilsa this year. The local hilsa found in the Hooghly estuary and from Gujarat has flooded the market,” said Debasis Bar, a fish seller in Kalikapur market in east Kolkata.
Every year, fish traders in Howrah and Kolkata procure around 500–700 tonnes of hilsa from Gujarat. But this year, more than 4,000 tonnes of the fish were procured from Gujarat.
