Road connecting Mizoram with Myanmar to be completed by Nov: Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said a cross-border road under the ambitious Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) to link south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district with Myanmar's Sittwe port will be completed by November this year.

Addressing a rally at West Phaileng in Dampa assembly constituency in west Mizoram's Mamit district bordering Bangladesh, Gadkari said the 26-km road project costs Rs 1,132 crore.

"The road under the Kaladan project will be completed by November and it will be helpful to connect Myanmar's Sittwe port," he said.

Gadkari, the union road transport and highways minister, said that infrastructure and communication have to be developed to bring all-round development.

"If the infrastructure is good, we get investment in industry and agriculture, by which we can create jobs. And by creating jobs we can eradicate poverty, which is the basic principle behind development," he said.

Addressing the rally ahead of the November 7 Mizoram assembly polls, Gadkari also said a Rs 20,000-crore road project, which will connect the state with Nagaland, Manipur in the north-east region and with the Myanmar international boundary, has been taken up.

The minister said when he took charge as the road transport minister in 2014, the length of national highways was 986 kilometres and in 2023, it has increased to 1,478 kilometres.

Around 355 km of road construction, costing Rs 8,000 crore, has been completed in Mizoram after he took charge of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, he said.

Gadkari also said a 373-km road project between Aizawl and Tuipang in the southern part of the state would be completed by June next year.

The Rs 7,361-crore project to connect six districts of Mizoram, including Aizawl and Serchhip, will also link Myanmar and develop the economy, trade and create employment opportunities, he said.

The Centre will construct Aizawl bypass road at the cost of Rs 2,500 crore to solve traffic snarl in the state capital, he said, adding that the project, which covers a length of 35 km and 2.5 km of tunnel, is scheduled to be completed by December 2025.

He also claimed that the construction of the four-lane Silchar to Vairengte-Sairang road (NH-306) got delayed as the state government "failed to provide land" due to problems between the revenue and forest departments.

The Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP with its president JP Nadda will "transform Mizoram into one of the developed states in the country" if the party is voted to power or becomes part of the next government in the state, he said.

"The BJP does not believe in discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and sex, and the NDA government at the Centre is committed to developing the country," he added.