Rs 33.86 cr sanctioned for IWT projects in state
Source: The Sangai Express / PIB

New Delhi, March 29 2022: The Central government has sanctioned Rs 33.86 crore for development of three Inland Water Transport (IWT) projects in the state as part of its IWT projects in the north-eastern states under the Act East Policy' to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region by providing enhanced connectivity to the states of North Eastern Region including Arunachal Pradesh with other countries.

The three IWT projects for the state and their sanctioned funds under Central Sector Schemes include Rs 7.88 crore for Loktak Inland Water Transport Project-II on Loktak Lake, Rs 0.40 crore for Project proposal for utilising the savings under CSS for 'Survey of River Barak (Manipur side)', and Rs 25.58 crore for Loktak Inland Waterways Improvement Project for Loktak Lake.

Assam has four IWT projects, Mizoram has two and Tripura one.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union minister for ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said that Act East Policy (AEP) provides an interface between North Eastern India including the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

The government also sanctioned two projects for development of the Inland Water Transport (IWT) infrastructure on National Waterways in the North-Eastern Region (NER) for a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 and the two projects include NW-2 (Dhubri-Sadiya stretch of river Brahmaputra) at the cost of Rs 461 Crore; and NW-16 (river Barak) & Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route at the cost of Rs 145 Crore.

The investment made under the IWT component of Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) for connectivity with Myanmar is around Rs 550 crore.

To improve connectivity to North Eastern Region (NER) through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route under a Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWT&T), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between India and Bangladesh for dredging Sirajganj to Daikhowa (175 km) of Jamuna River and Ashuganj - Zakiganj (295 km) of Kushiyara river in Bangladesh at a cost of Rs 305 Crore to be shared in the ratio of 80:20 between India & Bangladesh respectively.

The objective of Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project is to provide an alternative connectivity to the North East Region from the Kolkata/Haldia port through Sittwe Port-Kaladan River up to Paletwa in Myanmar by waterway and Paletwa to Zorinpui by Road in Mizoram and provide an alternate route between the landlocked North-East and the rest of India.

Ministry of External Affair is the nodal Ministry for implementation.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the Project Development Consultant (PDC) for this project, the minister said.

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