11 projects for funding by JICA

The Indian government has offered a shelf of 11 highway projects in the North East for funding to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd(NHIDCL), entrusted for the purpose, is looking at developing projects spread across Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Nagaland. 

The DPRs for these projects having total length of 1266 Km is on various stages of implementation. Out of the total 11 projects, the DPRs with necessary modification have already been submitted for two road projects one each in Mizoram (connecting Myanmar) and Meghalaya. 

NHIDCL is expecting that the funding for two road projects i.e two laning from Aizwal to Tuipang in Mizoram(380Km) and  another two laning from Tura to Dalu in Maghalaya (48Km) is likely to be approved by December this year.

The total cost of these two project is around Rs 5,880 crore. As far other projects are concerned, subsequently demands for funds will be raised after completion of DPRs.

Speaking to the Business Standard, Anand Kumar, NHIDCL, managing director, said, "The detailed project report  with certain modifications as per discussion with JICA  submitted to them and Department of Economic Affairs through the ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. This includes two laning of  Aizwal to Tuipang section (380 Km) in Mizoram  which connect India to Myanmar through Mizoram and two laning from Tura to Dalu including Tura Bypass(48 Km). The talks are on advanced stage and we expect North Eastern Connectivity project of JICA is likely to take off by December."

"The objective of the Project is to improve the connectivity in and around north east states in India through strengthening the existing national highway network. The Union government is keen to fund construction of state highways in the North-east to accelerate development of road infrastructure. Overall, we are expecting at 11 projects to be developed in association with JICA," he added.

People close to development say, it is as part of Japan's growing engagement with India, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is willing to finance infrastructure projects in Indian border areas.

They also mentioned that it is outcome of  Prime Minister Narendra Modi official visit to Japan last year where he met Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In a joint statement the two Prime Ministers, instructed respective relevant authorities to further enhance cooperation in various projects.  Also, both sides decided to strengthen cooperation in the field of connectivity and socio-economic development in Northeast India.

Last year, during the Prime Minister visit, The Japanese side announced a survey by JICA to identify possible cooperation including road connectivity projects in Northeast states of India.