An alternative route to reach North East via Sitwe Port(Myanmar) is ready and about to change the transportation dramatically reducing the transportation time to half.
The audacious project links Mizoram of North East India through sea, reaching out to Tripura, and Manipur dramatically altering the logistic transportation. The cargo is first transported to ship to Sitwe and then take it by river route and then in the final stretch it is taken by road to climb the last mile connectivity to Mizoram hills.
A consignment to Aizwal from Chennai shall take now 6 day while by road it is now around 11 days of travel.
Sittwe Port in Myanmar, being administered by the Ministry of External Affairs under the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project to facilitate connectivity between the mainland and the north eastern States of the country is "ready" for operations, an official said today.
A tender will be floated this month or January for appointing an operator for the port and movement of ships is expected in six months, once the operator takes over, the official said.
The project was jointly identified by India and Myanmar to create a multi-modal mode of transport for shipment of cargo from mainland India to Myanmar as well as to the northeastern part of India through Myanmar.
This project, which will connect Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the India-Myanmar border, is expected to contribute to the economic development of the northeastern States by opening up the sea route for goods.
"Sittwe Port along with the river port at Paletwa is ready for operations. We are going to float a tender this month or latest by January to appoint an operator. I think movement of ships from the Sittwe Port is expected in about six months, once the operator takes over," Inland Waterways Development Authority's Vice-Chairman Pravir Pandey said.
The project is expected to reduce pressure on the Siliguri Corridor, and since the project is of political and strategic significance, it was decided to execute it through India's grant assistance to Myanmar.
