India, Bangladesh open rail link, power, port projects
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday launched three India-assisted development projects, two of which are expected to boost trade and improve connectivity with the Northeastern states. “In this journey of nine years, the inauguration of the Akhaura-Agartala rail link today is a historic moment. This is the first rail link from India’s northeastern states to Bangladesh," said Modi at a joint press briefing.
The two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the rail link in 2013 with grant assistance from India. According to the ministry of external affairs, India extended almost ₹400 crore in grant assistance to Bangladesh. Also inaugurated was the Khulna-Mongla Port rail line project, implemented under Indian concessional credit with a total project cost of $388.92 million.
The project entails construction of approximately 65 km of broad gauge rail route between Mongla Port and the existing rail network in Khulna. “With this, Mongla, the second largest port of Bangladesh, gets connected with the broad-gauge railway network," said the external affairs ministry. “Extension of Bangladesh Railway’s railway network up to Mongla Port shall help in minimizing the usage of road transportation for movement of different types of goods through container wagons from Mongla to different parts of the country, as the government of Bangladesh is looking at developing Mongla Port to reduce the dependency on Chittagong port," said a document by India’s EXIM Bank.
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