Garment makers in Bangladesh want to set up a warehouse in West Bengal. If the proposal goes ahead exporters from Bangladesh are also interested in setting up a garment park alongside.

The warehouse will help garment manufacturers in Bangladesh supply apparels directly to retail shops across India. Although India provided duty-free and quota-free market access for all Bangladeshi goods, except 25 alcoholic and drug items in 2012, it levied a 12.5 per cent countervailing duty the following year, which hampered garment exports.

Bangladesh exported garment items worth $104.25 million to India in fiscal 2014-15, up 8.3 per cent year-on-year. The country's overall exports to India were worth $456.63 million in fiscal 2013-14, compared to $563.97 million a year earlier. Bangladesh’s imports from India were at $6.03 billion in fiscal 2013-14 and $4.78 billion a year earlier.

India is a very big market for Bangladeshi apparels, as its annual retail market size is set to cross the $40 billion dollar mark thanks to its growing middle class. Bangladesh seeks to boost its annual garment exports to the Indian market to a billion dollars in three years from the present $100 million.