According to the primary proposal by India, of the six million pieces of RMG products from Bangladesh, three million pieces were allowed to be made by Bangladeshi fabrics and the rest ones by Indian fabrics.

Under the new proposal, the restriction on export of these items through some six specific land ports goes and the sea, air and land routes may be used for this purpose.

The visiting Indian delegation led by State Minister for Commerce Jairam Ramesh placed the latest version of proposal to Finance and Commerce Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam when it met him at his office Sunday.

The Indian team also proposed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard during its current visit here, but Bangladesh refused as it required some formalities, a high official of the commerce ministry said.

He said, "Yes, we got their proposal lifting most of the conditions they set earlier on duty-free RMG products. But before signing a MoU, it needs vetting from law ministry, Council of Advisers and finally from the Chief Adviser."

On completion of the formalities, this MoU would be inked in New Delhi in the next one and half months, the official told The Daily Star.

The latest proposal from India has already been sent to the law ministry for its nod, he said.

The conditions like introduction of quota monitoring system and prior permission from the Indian Textile Committee before export of the RMG items, which New Delhi conveyed Dhaka through a letter to the commerce ministry on November 8, 2006, are now lifted.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath in 2005 promised Bangladesh to allow a duty-free entry of eight million pieces of RMG products to give a boost to the Indo-Bangla trade besides reducing trade imbalance.