Cargo potential of East India and North East with neighboring countries assessed

The Minister for Ports Sarbananda Sonawal called for greater cooperation among the stakeholders in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal for unlocking the value in the Maritime Sector of the region. The Government remains deeply committed to enable Act East Policy reach its maximum potential for growth and development of the eastern region of India as well as India’s neighboring countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal.

Minister for Ports Sarbananda Sonowal attended a crucial meeting along with Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur of stakeholders of Maritime development in the Bay of Bengal area in Kolkata..

The Minister - after interacting with the envoys of Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal as well as industry and trade representatives - called for greater cooperation among all the stakeholders for unlocking value in the maritime sector of the region.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sonowal said the Maritime sector as well as the inland waterways sector are major agents of change in this visionary scheme of transportation which is likely transform cargo movement through an economic, sustainable and efficient mode. In this momentous journey, we aspire your active support and swift cooperation to extrapolate maximum value creation for everyone

Some of the key issues deliberated in the meeting were Trade through National Waterways 1 and 2 to North East for ensuring transit transportation of North East Cargo through Bangladesh/North East Region/Myanmar, to strengthen Trade Ties with Bangladesh through facilitation of movement of goods between Kolkata Port and various ports of Bangladesh (Chittagong, Mongla) involving Inland Waterways Authority of India; Collaboration with Myanmar's Sittwe Port in Myanmar, as a part of Kaladan Multi Modal Transshipment project, to transport cargo to North East India, via Mizoram; Using Deep Drafted Facilities within Kolkata Port limits for overcoming the constraints of shallow draft for Transshipment operations and Capacity Enhancements at Kolkata Port through PPP Mode.

The meet commenced with discussion with Inland Waterways Authority of India regarding increased use of Inland Water Transport through River Ganga (NW1) and River Brahmaputra (NW2) via Indo Bangladesh Protocol routes and Kaladan Multi Modal Transshipment Transport route. This was followed by an interactive meet of Ministers with the Consul Generals of the neighboring countries of India