Kaladan Project to be operational by 2027: Sonowal

The ambitious Kaladan project between India and Myanmar, which aims to close the gap between the Northeast and the rest of the country, would be operational by 2027, according to Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Sonowal stated that after the project is completed, the 700-kilometer distance between Aizawl and Kolkata will be reduced.

“In Myanmar, the Sittwe port is prepared. Currently, efforts are underway to build a route connecting Myanmar and Aizawl. By 2027, the whole Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project will be up and running, he declared.

According to Sonowal, his government is spending Rs 1,000 crore to build the project’s canals, with other organizations handling the other tasks. According to him, the Northeastern area will be essential to bringing India’s economic success back. “Transportation should be used to bring about transformation,” PM Narendra Modi stated. We wish to establish the Northeast as South Asia’s commercial center in accordance with his guidance. Waterways will be essential to that,” he stated.

The two nations collaborated to identify the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP), which aims to develop a multimodal transportation system for the transportation of goods from India’s eastern ports to Myanmar and the Northeast via the Southeast Asian nation. According to Sonowal, the KMTTP is being constructed as a friendship project between India and Myanmar. “The Sittwe port was fully functioning when it was opened in 2023 and I got a 2,000 MT cargo ship from Kolkata. The 1,800-kilometer road between Aizawl and Kolkata will be cut by 700 kilometers once the full KMTTP is put into service, he stated.

The first cargo sailed from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata to Sittwe port in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The Sittwe port has been developed under a framework agreement between India and Myanmar for the construction and operation of a multimodal transit facility on the Kaladan river.

The Sittwe port connects to Paletwa in Myanmar through an inland waterway and from Paletwa to Zorinpui in Mizoram through a road. Goods from Kolkata to Sittwe port can be shipped to Teknaf port in Bangladesh, which is just 60 nautical miles from Sittwe. From Teknaf port, goods can be transported by road to Sabroom, which is 300 km away.