Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced that the Centre intended to build the Eastern Grid, which would include 5000 km of navigable waterways. The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush were speaking at the second Inland Waterways Summit organised by PHDCCI, the industry chamber here in the national capital, according to a press release from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, the government is working extensively to develop the Eastern Grid with more than 5,000 km of navigable waterways, and we are encouraged by the results of work done on National Waterways 1 - the river Ganga, the minister said at the event. Given the rich interweb of rivers in eastern India, which includes four key waterways as well as certain international routes, we intend to develop this massive potential of 5,000 kilometres of navigable waterways through this grid. This grid's construction will boost regional integration and accelerate development and deepen eastern India's trade with BBIN countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal). It will also expand trade opportunities with countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, he added. Under the visionary leadership of PM Modi, we want to explore this enormous potential of trade for the economic progress and development of the eastern part of India, the Union Minister said. As per the Ministry, the second Inland Waterways Summit, organised by PHDCCI, has the theme of 'Tapping into the power of Inland Waterways: promoting growth, trade and prosperity'. According to the ministry, the summit is a platform for different stakeholders, including government, interest groups, and business enterprises, as well as entrepreneurs, to explore the potential of inland waterways for regional economic integration and sustainable development. According to the Union Minister, with the seamless connection between NW-1 (Ganga), NW-2 (Brahmaputra), and NW-16 (Barak), the government is eager to create opportunity through a 3500-kilometer economic corridor connecting Northeast India with the rest of India via Bangladesh. Also Read Hitachi displays completely redesigned next-generation wheel loaders Bengaluru airport is set to become India's first multi-modal transport hub