Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 6: Northeast is, in near future, all set to make history, by getting its first-ever “Train to Bangladesh”.
Disclosing this to the media here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that with a view to link the North Eastern region of India with Bangladesh, the work has already started on the Agartala-Akhaura rail link and it gives him a special sense of satisfaction to state that the cost of the Indian portion of the project, that is, the rail track from Agartala up to the Bangladesh border will be funded by the Ministry of Northeast (DoNER) at an estimated amount of approximately Rs.580 crore, while the Bangladesh portion of the rail link is being funded by the Union Ministry of External Affairs as grant assistance.
Dr Jitendra Singh further informed that the new rail link will connect the existing Agartala station in Tripura in India to Akhaura Station of the Bangladesh Railways.
The ambitious rail project, Dr Jitendra Singh said, will open up Tripura, and indeed the entire North Eastern region of India, globally to the outside world and facilitate augmentation of trade and commerce as well as movement of goods and services between the two nations by ensuring maximum use of the Chittagong Port.
Lauding the high priority given to the Northeast by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh said, all these major landmarks in the region were possible to be achieved, one after the other, because of the personal intervention and unflinching support from the Prime Minister. He said, when this government came in 2014, at least two States in the region, namely Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, had never seen a train, whereas today, not only the entire Northeast barring Sikkim, is on the rail map of India, but we are also looking forward to the first-ever train to Bangladesh.
Dr Jitendra Singh also gave a brief account of the restructuring of the existing Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme for Northeast with a budgetary support of Rs.5,300 crore for taking up new projects and completing the ongoing ones.
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