TheKaladan Road Project[1] (Burmese:ကုလားတန်မြစ်ကြောင်း ဘက်စုံဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး စီမံကိန်း) is a US$484 million project connecting the eastern Indian seaport ofKolkata withSittwe seaport inRakhine State, Myanmar by sea. In Myanmar, it will then link Sittwe seaport toPaletwa inChin State via theKaladan river boat route, and then from Paletwa by road toMizoram state in Northeast India. All components of the project, including Sittwe port and power, riverdredging, and Paletwa jetty, have been completed,[2][3] except the under construction Zorinpui-Paletwa road.[4] Originally, the project was scheduled to be completed by 2014, but end-to-end project is expected to be fully operational only by December 2023 as per November 2023 update.[4]
Paletwa is less than 20 km (12 mi) from the Bangladesh border.
This project will reduce the distance fromKolkata toSittwe by approximately 1,328 km (825 mi) and will reduce the need to transport goods through the narrowSiliguri corridor, also known asChicken's Neck.
Initially India had tried to persuadeBangladesh to offer transport and transit rights to the northeastern states.[5] However,Bangladesh has consistently refused to grant such rights, including access to itsChittagong port, which is less than 200 km (120 mi) away fromAgartala, the capital ofTripura.[6]
The project is being piloted and funded by theMinistry of External Affairs (India). The preliminary feasibility studies were carried out byRail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES). Construction work onSittwe port and the boat jetty inPaletwa, as well as the dredging work, will be executed by theInland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), with Essar Projects Ltd, a division of theEssar Group appointed in May 2010 as the main contractor.[7]
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project initially faced problems such as underestimation of the road length inMyanmar and plans to construct hydro-electric projects —Chhimtuipui River andLungleng River — on two tributaries of theKaladan River followed by another project downstream. That the first two projects are being built by one public sector undertaking and the third is being constructed by another PSU (Public Sector Unit) has also led to coordination issues. Due to construction of this hydro electrical projects, navigation of boats could be effected.[8]
In April 2017, the Sittwe port and IWT Paletwa jetty were ready and operational.[9] In April 2017, India handed over the operation of completed Sittwe port and Inland Water Terminal at Paletwa to Myanmar. In June 2017, India handed six gas tanker cargo vessels worth US$81.29 million (K110.08 billion) to the Myanmar government to transport gas to north-east India viaManipur. Work on the port in Sittwe and the IWT in Paletwa, Chin State, is in its final stages, and the six cargo vessels are meant to facilitate transportation of goods from Sittwe to Paletwa. The $81.29 million cost of the vessels was met through a grant from India. The construction work was assigned to IWT in October 2012, the keels were laid in March 2013 and the vessels were launched between April and December 2016. On completion of the tests and trials at Yangon, the vessels reached Sittwe in March 2017. Acceptance trials were completed in April 2017 in Sittwe.[9]
In June 2017, after several upward budget revisions and troubles in finding contractors, the INR1,600-crore (US$250 million) contract has been finally awarded to an Indian company C&C construction for building 109-km road connecting IWT Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui in Mizoram border. The contractor would open offices at Sittwe, Paletwa and Yangon in Myanmar, mobilise men and machine during the monsoon and start construction after the monsoon in October.[10]
In 2019, India and Myanmar launchedOperation Sunrise, a joint military effort to dismantle insurgent group camps, especially the Arakan Army, threatening the Kaladan Project.[11]
The project has several sections combining multi-modes of transport:[12]
This railway route will complement the river–road route of this project in Myanmar-Mizoram:
Compared to the 1,880 km (1,170 mi) long, congested "Chicken's Neck"Siliguri Corridor, this Kaladan project will almost half the distance to a mere 950 km (590 mi). As an alternate route (unrelated to the Kaladan Multi-Modal project) to northeast India, India is alsodeveloping railway route fromCox's Bazar deep water port toSouth Tripura district by rehabilitating the railway link fromSantirbazar in India toFeni in Bangladesh, where a road and rail bridge is being built to connect the "Belonia, India–Parshuram, Bangladesh road and rail crossing checkposts", this will reduce traffic through Sittwe, but will provide strategically redundancy if there is a war with China.[27]
Integrated Customs & Immigration Checkpost atZorinpui inLawngtlai district, is already operational since 2017.[28] In early 2018, visa agreement were signed for the citizens of two nations to travel by road for education, medical assistance, tourism and other purposes.[29][2] This agreement was operationalised on 9 August 2018.[18] Indians and Myanma citizens with valid passport and visa can pass through two official Land Border Crossings atMoreh in Manipur (Tamu inSagaing Region of Myanmar) andZokhawthar in Mizoram (Rihkhawdar inChin State of Myanmar).[18]
In 2015, India proposed a trilateral Motor Vehicle Agreement to facilitate seamless movement of passenger and cargo vehicles among the three countries.[30] In May 2017, during a visit by Thai officials to Manipur, the state's Chief Secretary Oinam Nabakishore declared that the draft of the trilateral agreement had already been prepared.[31][32] As of May 2018, the signing of Motor vehicle agreement is still pending.[2]
Myanmar is key part of India's "Look East" policy and Kaladan project has enabled several other associated projects with ongoing development of growing list of integrated linkages.
Sittwe Special Economic Zone (Sittwe SEZ) at Ponnagyun town was announced by India's Union Minister of State for External AffairsV K Singh at the India-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meet at Laos in August 2016. The 1000 acre SEZ will be built 60 kilometres (37 mi) north from Sittwe upstream ofKaladan River at Ponnagyun town. China is building a rivalKyaukpyu Special Economic Zone and port 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Sittwe.[16][10]
Thathay Chaung Hydropower Project(TCHP) is an 1800 megawatt, two dam project being built and financed by India onChindwin River inRakhine State of Myanmar, a 1,200 megawatt dam at Thamanthi (Manthi) and 600 megawatt dam at Shwejaye. The electricity produced will be supplied to Manipur state of India.[33]
There is also to a proposal to build 1,575 km (979 mi) long Sittwe–Aizawl–Silchar–Guwahati–Siliguri–Gaya gas pipeline to transport gas from Sittwe gas field whereONGC andGAIL hold 30 percent stake in oil and gas exploration.[33]
Indian has decided to build an INR130 crore (US$20 million) bridge over theFeni River at theTripura-Bangladesh border to connect the existingNH8Agartala–Sabroom on Indian side toChittagong port in Bangladesh 80 km (50 mi) from South Tripura. In February 2017, the project was in tendering stage.[34]
In June 2017, to ensure faster movement of goods between Sittwe and Mizoram capital of Aizawl in the North West which is close to the Barak Valley of Assam, India started an INR6,000-crore upgrade of current 2-lane 300 km (190 mi) Aizawl–Tuipang national highway to all-weather four-laning of international standard, the tender will be floated in September and construction contract will be awarded by December 2017 after the ongoing land acquisition is complete.[10] The upgrade of 52-km long road from Tuipang to Myanmar border, from 2-lane to all-weather 4-lane highway, is also included in this 352 km (219 mi) longNational Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) project.[35]
The India–Myanmar–Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway (Friendship Highway) is a highway under construction that will connectMoreh, India withMae Sot, Thailand viaMyanmar.[citation needed] The road is expected to boost trade and commerce in theASEAN–India Free Trade Area, as well as with the rest of Southeast Asia. India has also proposed extending the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.[36] The proposed approx 3,200 km (2,000 mi) route from India to Vietnam is known as theEast-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).[37]
Paletwa–Cikha–India Highway Project is a INR 20 billion (US$315 million) 645 km (401 mi) long under constructionPaletwa–Cikha road highway inChin State of Myanmar, which will also be connected to the Indian border on two places, Paletwa toNH502Zochachhuah border village[38] ofLawngtlai district in south-most Mizoram (main road route of Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport project) and atKhenman (Myanmar) toNH102BBehiang border village ofChurachandpur district in southernmost Manipur. On 21 April 2016,Chin State Chief Minister Pu Lian Luai in Myanmar informed that the project is funded by Indian government, which will connect Paletwa in southern Chin state to Cikha (also misspelt as Chikha in Indian media) sub-town in northern Chin state. New roads will also be built to connect the Paletwa-Chikha highway to villages and towns in Chin state.[39]
India–Myanmar Zokhawthar–Rihkhawdar–Kalemyo Highway will provide second connection to theIndia–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway (IMT), betweenNH102BZokhawthar Indian border village ofChamphai district in east Mizoram to Rihkhawdar border town in Myanmar, connecting it to IMT 120 km (75 mi) away atKalemyo,[34] where it will connect to the IMT at Kalemyo.[18]
Indian Railways has already converted to broad gauge the current 84 km (52 mi) rail line fromKatakhal (Assam) toBairabi 2 km (1.2 mi) inside Mizoram. Its further 51.38 km (31.93 mi)Bairabi Sairang Railway extension from Bairabi toSairang (20 km (12 mi) north ofAizawl) in Mizoram is under construction with target completion date of March 2019 as per status update in March 2016. In August 2015, India railway completed a survey for a possible new route extension from Sairang toHmawngbuchhuah[40] on Mizoram's southern tip on the border of Myanmar, where at nearbyZochachhuah[38] village theNational Highway 502 (part ofKaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project) enters Myanmar, leaving a possibility open for yet-unplanned future rail connections to Paletwa.[41][42]
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