The Agartala-Akhaura Railway Link project is likely to be completed by 2020 which will connect Bangladesh’s Akhaura to Indian Tripura State’s Agartala, an Indian Minister tweeted.
Indian Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh made took to Twitter on Thursday (Sept 12) to make the announcement.
On Sept 10, 2018 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi inaugurated the rail project via video conference.
The estimated cost of the 15-kilometre rail line is Tk 4.77 billion amongst which the Bangladesh government will provide Tk 570 million.
Previously in 2016, the then Bangladesh railway minister Mujibul Hoque and his Indian counterpart Sureh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated the completion of the railway line on the Agartala end.
Following a meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly on Thursday, Singh said, “This is a huge success for the north eastern region. The train from Bangladesh to Agartala will run from 2020.”
He said that the India side will be funded by the development of north eastern region ministry and added, “Several ongoing projects were discussed with Riva Ganguly.”
The Indian minister said that the railway will boost communication, tourism and trade between the two countries which is imperative for the cultural exchange between the two countries.