Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush, announced the centre’s plans to develop the Eastern Grid with 5,000 kilometres of waterways. The announcement came while the Union Minister addressed the industry leaders at Wednesday’s second Inland Waterways Summit hosted by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi.
The event was graced by Sanjay Bandopadhya, IAS Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India; R. Lakshmanan, IAS, joint secretary (Administration, Parliament and DGLL), Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Saket Dalmia, President, PHDCCI; Col. Saurabh Sanyal, CEO and secretary general, PHDCCI; Sandeep Wadhwa, Chair, Gati Shakti Development Forum; and Ashok Gupta, co-chair, Gati Shakti Development Forum, among industry leaders, industrialists, policy advocates, entrepreneurs and other prominent personalities.
The web of Indian rivers comprises four critical waterways and some international routes that the upcoming grid will strengthen. It will push regional connectivity and integration, boost the trade in BBIN nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, and encourage a USD 49 billion trade potential with countries like Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Sonowal said, “Under the visionary leadership of PM Modi ji, we want to explore this immense potential of trade for the economic progress and development of Eastern India.”
He further applauded the work done on National Waterways 1 – River Ganga. PHDCCI’s second Inland Waterways Summit had the theme ‘Tapping into the power of Inland Waterways: promoting growth, trade and prosperity’. The minister mentioned the centre’s plans to utilise the seamless connection between National Waterways 1 (Ganga), 2 (Brahmaputra), and 16 (Barak) to develop a 3500-kilometres-long economic corridor linking Northeast India via Bangladesh with the rest of India.
It will also connect Bangladesh with Nepal and Bhutan to the international trade routes via multi-modal connections developed in India. Furthermore, with India developing the Myanmar-based Sittwe port, we can expect regional economic integration and cooperation to happen smoothly between BBIN – BIMSTEC – ASEAN nations.
