Modi and Hasina to inaugurate key India-Bangladesh infra projects

31 Oct 2023 CW Team

The Agartala-Akhaura railway project, designed as a dual gauge station for passenger and goods interchange between India and Bangladesh, will significantly reduce travel time for residents of northeastern states, especially Tripura, as well as southern parts of Assam and Mizoram. By providing a direct rail route to Kolkata, this project will save travellers approximately 22 hours compared to the current route via Guwahati, which takes more than 38 hours.

Furthermore, the Maitree Super Thermal Power project in Rampal, with a total capacity of 1320 MW and two units of 560 MW each, has been constructed under India's concessional financing scheme. Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) is responsible for its construction, on behalf of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50:50 Joint Venture Company between India's National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The project aims to strengthen the energy infrastructure in the region.

A government official has announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are expected to jointly inaugurate the Maitree Super Thermal Power project in Rampal, Bangladesh's Khulna division, with a generation capacity of 1320 MW. Additionally, they will inaugurate the 15.064 km long Akhaura-Agartala rail link project connecting Bangladesh's Akhaura railway station to Agartala in Tripura, India, as well as the 86.87 km long Khulna-Mongla port rail line project. The new Akhaura-Agartala railway line, spanning 5.05 km in India and 10.014 km in Bangladesh, will establish a connection from Bangladesh's Akhaura railway station to an international immigration station at Nischintapur in western Tripura. This project, funded by India and overseen by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), is part of the Rs 10 billion Agartala-Akhaura railway initiative, which was finalised in January 2010 during a meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister and the then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. The Agartala-Akhaura railway project, designed as a dual gauge station for passenger and goods interchange between India and Bangladesh, will significantly reduce travel time for residents of northeastern states, especially Tripura, as well as southern parts of Assam and Mizoram. By providing a direct rail route to Kolkata, this project will save travellers approximately 22 hours compared to the current route via Guwahati, which takes more than 38 hours. Furthermore, the Maitree Super Thermal Power project in Rampal, with a total capacity of 1320 MW and two units of 560 MW each, has been constructed under India's concessional financing scheme. Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) is responsible for its construction, on behalf of the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50:50 Joint Venture Company between India's National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). The project aims to strengthen the energy infrastructure in the region.