With focus on North-East India, Indian Railways has accorded its approval for the final location survey of a 223 km rail line from Sairang (Aizawl) to Hbichhuah in Mizoram, near the Myanmar border.
“Considering the strategic importance of the region and vis-à-vis economic development, the Ministry of Railways has decided to take up the project. This project will provide one more access point to Northeast India through Hbichhuah,” Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) CPRO Sabyasachi De said.
The project is strategically important as it is expected that the railway link to Hbichhuah, once completed, will lower the cost and time of transportation of goods via Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the northeast.
Earlier on 9 May, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Myanmar’s Deputy Prime Minister Admiral Tin Aung San had jointly inaugurated the Sittwe Port in Myanmar and received the first Indian cargo ship.
Extension Of Bairabi-Sairang Rail Line
The Sairang-Hbichhuah rail link will be an extension to Bairabi-Sairang new line railway project to connect the North-eastern state of Mizoram to the rest of the country.
The 51.38-km Bairabi-Sairang rail line project is more than 85 per cent complete and is targeted for commissioning by February 2024.
Being executed by the Northeast Frontier Railway, the Rs 9,362 crore project has been accorded the status of “Project of National Importance”.
The rail connectivity to Mizoram and then to the Myanmar border is expected to be a major boost for the ‘Act East Policy’ of the government.
