India, Oct. 5 -- A barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol on Monday departed from the Bogibeel Terminal in the East Indian city of Dibrugarh for Dhaka, Bangladesh, marking a significant revival of Assam's historic river trade with foreign markets.

Indian Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, from Bogibeel.

The shipment is the first cargo consignment from upper Assam to a foreign port since Independence in 1947, nearly seven decades after regular operations at Dibrugarh's historic river ghat came to an end.

The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL) at Namrup, is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka.

The voyage is being ...