India has officially agreed to develop the Burmese port of Sittwe in Rakhine state.
Indian press reports say the $120 million cost of the Built Transfer & Use (BTU) project will be funded by a grant from the Indian government to its neighbour.
Berth users will be charged for services offered by the port once it has been upgraded and handed over to the Burmese, said The Hindu.
According to the The Hindu, a final agreement on the project is likely to be signed during a high level visit from Burmese officials in April this year.
Confirming India's involvement, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said that the project had been under discussion for almost six years.
“But a paradigm shift in our thinking, thanks to the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister, resulted in changing it from a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) project into a BTU venture,” said Ramesh.
“The Myanmar authorities had serious reservations on a BOT approach and so we switched over to this new concept,” explained Ramesh.
Sittwe is located 250 kilometres from the Mizoram border on the north-western coast of Burma, where the Kaladan river joins the Bay of Bengal.
Ramesh said the project involved three components — rebuilding the port, making the Kaladan River navigable up to Mizoram and developing highway connectivity from the border in Mizoram.
He added that the entire project could be completed in three years.
In spite of on-going political and social turmoil in Burma, India had recently announced it will be signing a formal agreement with the country's military government to develop the Sittwe port project.
Although there have been multiple delays and deadlocks in discussions over the project, reports say that India's steadfast focus on business during bilateral talks, despite global outcry at the Burmese junta, has resulted in this 'major coup' for Indian maritime interests.
Indian analysts say that Sittwe, can be the most important gateway for India's landlocked north-eastern states.
The states include Assam, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, of which all will have access to international sea trade routes through the Bay of Bengal.
The north-eastern states' isolation from the sea, major trade routes and greater India has been exacerbated by Bangladesh's refusal to offer transit facilities.
According to the The Hindu, a final agreement on the project is likely to be signed during a high level visit from Burmese officials in April this year.
Confirming India's involvement, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said that the project had been under discussion for almost six years.
“But a paradigm shift in our thinking, thanks to the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister, resulted in changing it from a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) project into a BTU venture,” said Ramesh.
“The Myanmar authorities had serious reservations on a BOT approach and so we switched over to this new concept,” explained Ramesh.
Sittwe is located 250 kilometres from the Mizoram border on the north-western coast of Burma, where the Kaladan river joins the Bay of Bengal.
Ramesh said the project involved three components — rebuilding the port, making the Kaladan River navigable up to Mizoram and developing highway connectivity from the border in Mizoram.
He added that the entire project could be completed in three years.
In spite of on-going political and social turmoil in Burma, India had recently announced it will be signing a formal agreement with the country's military government to develop the Sittwe port project.
Although there have been multiple delays and deadlocks in discussions over the project, reports say that India's steadfast focus on business during bilateral talks, despite global outcry at the Burmese junta, has resulted in this 'major coup' for Indian maritime interests.
Indian analysts say that Sittwe, can be the most important gateway for India's landlocked north-eastern states.
The states include Assam, Manipur, Meghalya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, of which all will have access to international sea trade routes through the Bay of Bengal.
The north-eastern states' isolation from the sea, major trade routes and greater India has been exacerbated by Bangladesh's refusal to offer transit facilities.