On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi colleague Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate three development projects that were carried out in Bangladesh with Indian aid to improve connectivity and energy security in the region.
Bangladesh plays a pivotal role in India’s policy of “Neighbourhood First” and has reaped the benefits of multiple development initiatives carried out with Indian assistance, including grants, in recent times. A number of these initiatives are intended to improve the connection between Bangladesh and India’s strategically important northeastern area. One such initiative is the reopening of cross-border train links that had been shut down since the 1965 war with Pakistan.
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The Akhaura-Agartala cross-border rail link, the Khulna-Mongla port rail line, and unit II of the Maitree super thermal project are the three projects that will be officially opened on November 1 through a virtual ceremony.
An Indian grant of ₹392.52 that was given to Bangladesh has been used to implement the Akhaura-Agartala rail link project. The dual gauge rail line, which stretches 6.78 km in Bangladesh and 5.46 km in the northeastern state of Tripura, is part of the 12.24 kilometre-long link.
With a $388.92 million overall cost, the Khulna-Mongla port rail line project was constructed using a concessional line of credit that the Indian government provided. As part of the project, a 65-kilometer broad gauge rail link was built between the Mongla port and the region of Bangladesh’s Khulna’s current rail system.
This has allowed Bangladesh’s second-largest port, Mongla, to be linked to the nation’s broad-gauge railway system.
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Recently, the government of Bangladesh approved the transit and transshipment of goods via the ports of Chattogram and Mongla from West Bengal to the northeastern states. The cost and time of shipping goods to the northeastern states that are landlocked have been greatly reduced by this action.
The 1,320 MW Maitree super thermal power station is being constructed in Rampal, Bangladesh’s Khulna division, with funding from an Indian concessional financing scheme loan of $1.6 billion. Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Private Limited, a 50/50 joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board and India’s NTPCL, has been carrying out the project.
Unit I of the power plant was jointly unveiled by both prime ministers in September 2022. The full operationalization of the power plant will enhance energy security in Bangladesh.
