Fund for elevated Indo-Bangla rail link

India has sanctioned around Rs 10 billion for laying 15.06 km of rail tracks to connect with Bangladesh in the North East.

"Recently it was decided at the level of the Cabinet secretary that the elevated Agartala-Akhaura railway corridor would be funded by the government of India. The project cost is Rs 580 crores, which includes our land cost of around 98 crores,” said Samarjit Bhowmik, Transport Secretary of Tripura.

He said that after a NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, Rs 5.8 billion was sanctioned for acquiring 67 acres land and laying of five km long elevated tracks on the Indian side.

Meantime, the Indian external affairs ministry had earlier sanctioned Rs 4 billion for acquiring land and laying of around ten km long track on the Bangladesh side.

The project would be completed by December 2017, Bhowmick said.

He said that with the restoration of pre-Partition rail connectivity between Bangladesh and Tripura,  other avenues of connectivity by sea and river ports will also open up and this will turn Tripura, which from three sides is enclosed by Bangladesh, in to the gateway of Northeast India to the Southeast Asian countries.

“The completion of the Agartala-Akhaura rail connectivity will open the gate of India’s Northeast to the trade and commerce of Southeast Asia as it will give access to Chittagong port and Ashuganj port. Access to Bay of Bengal means that the entire world will open up to our state,” said Bhowmick.

Meantime, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also welcomed the initiative of the Indian government to construct an elevated rail link from Tripura's capital Agartala and Bangladesh.

"The signing of memorandum of understanding between the India and Bangladesh for the rail connectivity from Agartala to Akhaura happened during former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's meeting with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hassina but was initially stuck up due to high cost of land on the Indian side. But now the problem has been solved with a flyover like rail line on the Indian side and with this the door of Tripura will open up," Sarkar said.

India and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on February 16, 2013, to build a rail link between Agartala and Akhaura, located in Bangladesh's Brahmanbaria district.