Summit Alliance Port East Gateway (SAPEGIL), a Bangladeshi firm, has won the work to operate three river terminals in India, Summit Group said in a statement yesterday.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in its first-ever public private partnership handed over the three terminals to SAPEGIL, a subsidiary of Summit Alliance Port Ltd, on a supply, operate and maintain model.

The terminals are Garden Reach terminal in Kolkata and Gaighat and Kalughat terminals in Patna.

SAPEGIL Director Ashok Chakbraborty took over the management of the river terminals from the IWAI in the presence of Gopal Krishna, shipping secretary of India.

This is the first time a Bangladeshi company was awarded the management of terminals in a foreign country, according to the statement.

“We feel very privileged to have taken over the management of three river terminals in Kolkata and Patna both as the first Bangladeshi company as well as the first PPP with the IWAI,” said Summit Group Chairman Muhammed Aziz Khan.

SAPEGIL will have the right to collect user fees as per the tariff rates notified by the IWAI for a period of 30 years. Under the revenue sharing arrangement, SAPEGIL will retain 61.70 percent of the revenues and the rest the IWAI from the seventh year of operation.

SAPEGIL won the work through a competitive tendering process, the company said.