India received 144 tonnes of Bangladeshi hilsa before the puja, Kolkata disappointed

Ahead of Durga Puja 2025, Bangladesh's interim government approved the export of 1,200 tonnes of hilsa to India. By the time the export window closed on 5 October, only 144 tonnes had been shipped. Citing fish importers in Howrah, West Bengal, Jagonews24 reported on 14 October that buyers in Kolkata were disappointed at how little Bangladeshi hilsa had arrived.

In September 2025 the commerce ministry gave conditional permission to 37 companies to export the fish. The window ran from 16 September to 5 October, with a minimum export price of USD 12.50 a kilogram. Exporters had to follow the Export Policy 2024-27 and could not ship more than the approved quantity.

According to Jagonews24, about 39 tonnes of the 144 tonnes went to Tripura, the state next to West Bengal, and the rest reached the wholesale fish market in Howrah. With the deadline passed, no more Bangladeshi hilsa could come to West Bengal for the time being.

The gap between approval and actual shipments was not new. Prothom Alo reported in September 2024 that 3,950 tonnes had been approved for export in the previous fiscal year, but only about 802 tonnes were exported in all. Bangladesh banned hilsa exports in July 2012 and has allowed special shipments to India for the puja since 2019. Hilsa was registered as a geographical indication (GI) product of Bangladesh in 2017.

Syed Anwar Maksud, secretary of the Fish Importers Association in Howrah, told Jagonews24 that the Bangladesh government had allowed 1,200 tonnes, but fewer hilsa were caught in Bangladesh, so it was not possible to bring more, and the price was also high.

He said this was the smallest amount in any year; before the previous year's puja, 577 tonnes had arrived. In Kolkata, Bangladeshi hilsa sold at 1,900 rupees a kilogram in some places and 2,000 to 2,200 rupees in others, so many people did not buy. With supply short and demand high, he said, prices were bound to be high.

Maksud said Bangladesh's supply had been low from the start and traders there had been weighing whether more could be sent. "People in their own country will eat first, then fish will come," he said. In his view, hilsa builds a bridge between Bengalis on both sides of the border, and he hoped conditions would be normal the following year.

Official figures in Bangladesh matched the importer's account. Citing the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bonik Barta reported on 29 September 2025 that the hilsa catch was down 33.2 per cent in July and 47.31 per cent in August compared with the year before, and that production had fallen by nearly 10 per cent over five years. Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter said natural factors had again limited production.

Prothom Alo reported on 4 October that hilsa production was 529,000 tonnes in fiscal 2023-24, down from 571,000 tonnes in 2022-23. The Consumers Association put the 2025 price in Bangladesh at 3,000 to 3,500 taka a kilogram. Experts quoted by the paper blamed overfishing, illegal fine-mesh nets, river pollution, low rainfall and shallower rivers.

Meanwhile, to protect breeding hilsa, the ministry banned catching, transporting, storing and selling hilsa nationwide for 22 days, from 4 to 25 October.

Jagonews24 reported that while Bangladeshi hilsa was scarce, Kolkata's markets were well stocked with hilsa from Gujarat and Myanmar. Gujarati hilsa was selling at 800 to 900 rupees a kilogram and Myanmar hilsa at 1,000 rupees. The Padma hilsa is prized for its taste and aroma, the report said, which is why people along the Ganges wait for Bangladeshi hilsa before the puja every year.

Photo: Yogabrata Chakraborty / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, The Business Standard, The Tribune (India), Bonik Barta, Prothom Alo