India
is giving highest priority to Indian-Myanmar-Trilateral Highway project and by
the end of December next year they will get connectivity, road transport and
highways minister Nitin Gadkari says
New Delhi: India-Myanmar-Thailand
Trilateral Highway (TH) is likely to be operational by December 2019, union
minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
India, Thailand
and Myanmar are working on about 1,400km long highway that would link the
country with southeast Asia by land and give a boost to trade, business,
health, education and tourism ties among the three countries. “Next year by the
end of December, we will be in a position to get connectivity...We are giving
highest priority to this (Indian-Myanmar-Trilateral Highway project). This will
boost trade and ties among the nations in the region,” the union road transport
and highways minister said in New Delhi.
The minister
said there are 24 projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) connectivity and work is on in 14 to 16
projects. He said most of the projects were being funded by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB).
Asked about the
challenges in the project, the minister said, “There are some land acquisition
and other problems... Tree felling is a big problem...We are finding out
solutions.”
Last month,
Gadkari said connectivity of projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand
Trilateral Highway, extension of TH to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Kaladan
Multimodal Transit Transport Project are being planned and they are at
different stages of implementation.
He also said
India has proposed $1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road
connectivity projects with ASEAN besides setting up a project development fund
of $77 million to develop manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam.
