Feni river bridge linking Bangladesh, India to be completed in 2 months: Indian minister

Two important road connectivity projects, including a bridge over Feni river, linking Bangladesh with India will be completed in the next two months, a key Indian cabinet minister said today.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, said the bridge over Feni river would be completed by December and the Udaipur-Agartala road in November, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The 4km two-lane road between Udaipur and Agartala, capital city of the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, worth Rs 750 crore, is set to be completed next month, he said.

The 1.8km long Feni bridge between Sabroom on the Indian side and Ramgarh in Bangladesh costing Rs 129 crore will be completed by December this year. The bridge is important from social, economic and defence points of view, he said.

The distance between Sabroom and Chattogram is 75km and the bridge will ease the transportation of goods from Chattogram and Kolkata ports, said Gadkari. An integrated check post is also proposed near Sabroom, he added.

The minister said construction of the RCC bridge over river Feni will improve connectivity with Bangladesh.

Gadkari was speaking after virtually laying the foundation stones of nine national highway projects with a total length of nearly 262km, worth over Rs 2,752 crore, in Tripura today.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister in the Indian Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh described Tripura as a gateway of India's "Act East Policy" and said that very soon "we are also going to have a train to Bangladesh from Tripura -- heralding a new chapter and opening new vistas in the development of this region by providing the entire region access to the seaports.

This will boost the trade across the borders especially with Bangladesh by leaps and bounds, he said.