New Delhi, Feb 15 : As part of its bid to harness all-out benefits from the proposed transit through Bangladesh, India has undertaken a $51 million railway project to connect Bangladesh's southeastern border town Akhaura with Agartala, capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura, officials said on Tuesday.
The implementation of the project is likely to start in a couple of months as the authorities concerned in India are expected to allocate the fund under the annual budget for the fiscal year 2013, to be announced in March next, they said.
"The project will be exclusively funded by Indian government, and Bangladesh will cooperate for its timely completion," a senior official of the ministry of railways told the FE.
The 15-km railway track project, when completed by the end of 2014, will open scope for movement of goods trains between Agartala and Kolkata, in Pachimbanga, drastically reducing the distance between the two state capitals, traders said.
Agartala, for instance, is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati (Assam) and Pachimbanga, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata through Bangladesh is just about 350 km, railway officials said.
The 15-km railway track project comprising 5.0 km in the Indian territory and the rest in Bangladesh, when completed is expected to greatly hasten implementation of the proposed transit facility for India through Bangladesh.
However, India and Bangladesh presently in talks to implement the transit pledges, will require several more rounds of talks to evolve effective modalities for the desired facilities for India to carry consignments to and from its northeastern states via Bangladesh.
The latest round of a two-day talks between officials of Bangladesh and India to implement road and river transit ended inconclusively in Dhaka on Monday, officials said.
Meanwhile, the railways are seen as most effective and viable mode for transit, which can be implemented in the shortest possible time, while transit though roads and river protocols may take a long time for implementation.
For implementation of transit by road and river links, existing infrastructure are needed to be upgraded at a cost of millions of dollars and these up-gradations are likely to take a decade, experts involved in communications sector told the FE.
Due to poor infrastructure Bangladesh was compelled to stop a test transit through river protocol-cum-road-transit late last year, as existing infrastructure at Ashuganj river terminal and Akhaura land-port were very much fragile, port officials said.
The roads, bridges and culverts along the roads running between Ashuganj and Agartala were also found much brittle compelling the authorities to suspend the shipment of heavy consignments.
Traders said the existing railway connectivity between Agartala and other destinations including Kolkata via Dhaka was still better to withstand the pressure of transit movement, transport operators said.
However in addition to existing air connectivity, train and bus services for passengers were introduced between Kolkata and Dhaka several years ago to facilitate exchange of visits by people of Bangladesh and Pachimbanga.
The 15-km railway track when laid by India, will connect Agartala also with Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, main port Chittagong and the country's northeastern Sylhet, famous for gas fields and tea gardens.
The scheme to connect Agartala with Akhaura was mulled immediately after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had agreed to give transit facilities to India through Bangladesh, during her visit to New Delhi in early 2010.
"The railway project, when implemented, will help Indian traders avoid hazardous journey through mountainous region to carry goods between Agartala with Kolkata and New Delhi," a senior Indian railway officer told Indian press on Tuesday.
For carrying goods and heavy machinery to the northeast from abroad and other parts of the country, India has for long been seeking land, sea and rail access through Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, another FE report adds: India wants to put into operation transshipment through Ashuganj immediately to ferry cargoes to the north-eastern Indian states, official sources said Tuesday.
"For this, the Indian delegation stressed quick implementation of the construction of an inland container terminal at Ashuganj port," said a member of the Bangladesh-India standing committee under the protocol on inland water transit and trade.
The 14th meeting of the committee was held in Dhaka on Sunday and Monday between Bangladesh officials and an Indian delegation that left Bangladesh Tuesday after a two-day visit.
The two sides met in the city where Bangladesh agreed in principle to allow Indian bulk cargoes to use Ashuganj as transshipment terminal.
The committee member, belonging to the Bangladesh side, said the Indian delegation had expressed its interest to invest around Tk 10 billion to complete the remaining construction of the Ashuganj port.
He said Bangladesh government had taken a number of development projects to make the port operational.
The member, who wished not to be named, said once the infrastructural facilities were available, the port could be put into operation for Indian bulk cargoes.
"Bangladesh at the joint meeting agreed not to insist on bank guarantees as proposed by the Indian side," he added.
Currently, there is a system for bank guarantees while ferrying Indian cargoes through the Ashuganj port.
According to agreed minutes, both sides would take necessary steps for providing full-fledged facilities at Akhaura and Agartala land customs stations (LCSs).
Akhaura LCS is on the Bangladesh side, and the one in Agartala is on the opposite side.
However, Bangladesh will form a committee comprising members of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, National Board of Revenue and ship-owning companies in the private sector to make the cargo movement smooth along the water routes.
The committee was formed as the Indian side had wanted that its vessel operators be allowed to shift transshipment from deeper-draft vessels to shallow draft vessels, including their movement through midstream, and cargo carrying from water vessels to trucks, and vice-versa.
Earlier in September, three trial runs were conducted using Ashuganj as a transshipment port by India as had been agreed upon at the 13th committee meeting held in Goa in India.
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