The Central government has approved Rs 33.86 crore for the development of three inland water transport (IWT) projects in the north-eastern states as part of the Act East Policy, which aims to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties, and strategic relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region by improving connectivity between states in the region, including Arunachal Pradesh.
The three IWT projects and their sanctioned funds under Central Sector Schemes are Rs 7.88 crore for Loktak Inland Water Transport Project-II on Loktak Lake, Rs 0.40 crore for Project proposal for using CSS savings for ‘Survey of River Barak (Manipur side)’, and Rs 25.58 crore for Loktak Inland Waterways Improvement Project on Loktak Lake. Assam has four IWT projects, Mizoram has two and Tripura one. Other IWT projects include NW-2 (Dhubri-Sadiya stretch of river Brahmaputra) at the cost of Rs 461 Crore; and NW-16 (river Barak) & Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route at the cost of Rs 145 Crore.
