The Centre has agreed in principle to invest US$103 million to develop the Sittwe Port in Myanmar. The port will not only provide an alternative trade route for goods to the landlocked northeast, but will also make possible the transportation of gas through a deep-sea pipeline.

“The government has agreed and the Cabinet approval is expected soon. The project has major strategic implications,” Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said at a seminar on Look East Policy, organised by North East Media Forum. Deputy Chief of Mission at the Myanmar Embassy, Myint Swe felt the project would be “helpful” and an agreement can be signed in a “few months time”.

The project involves a major upgradation of infrastructure at Sittwe, located about 250 km from the Mizoram border on the northwestern coast of Myanmar at the point where the Kaladan river joins the Bay of Bengal.

It will be executed by the government-owned RITES under the Ministry of Railways and is expected to be completed within three years, Ramesh said.

Bangladesh’s reluctance to offer transit facilities to India has made this project a strategic one for New Delhi. Goods from Kolkata and other Indian ports can use Sittwe to reach the northeastern states and southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

The minister added that Mizoram would emerge as a hub of international trade once the upgradation is completed. Efforts are also on to develop a sophisticated trade mart at Champai in the hill state.

... contd.