USD 1 billion credit to boost connectivity with Asean

NEW DELHI: India has proposed extending a $1-billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects in southeast Asia, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday. Speaking at a CII-organised summit on Asean-India connectivity, Gadkari added that the country has set up a $77-million fund focused towards developing manufacturing hubs across the region.

“India has proposed to commit a line of credit of $1 billion to promote projects that support physical and digital connectivity,” Gadkari said. A prime example for the government’s focus on building connectivity is the agreement to set up a maritime transport working group comprising India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to examine the feasibility of shipping networks.

“The Asean-India maritime transport cooperation agreement is being negotiated... An Asian India civil aviation task force has been established to see optimisation of air connectivity. Connectivity projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (TH), extension of TH to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project are being planned and at different stages of implementation,” he said.

Gadkari said better connectivity would be a core factor in strengthening Asean-India relations. With around 2,000 km of roads set to be built at an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore to connect India’s major highway corridors to international trade points in the Bharat Mala project, adding, that trade between India and Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar would receive a boost.