Japan to fund two road projects |
Japan is keen to fund two more road projects in India’s northeast, a priority area and for strategic reasons.The Japanese government, which has pledged Rs 67.1 billion to improve roads in the region, is looking at national highways 40 and 55 that provide vital links to Bangladesh and Myanmar, the only southeast Asian country India shares a land boundary with. A network of roads linked to waterways has the potential to turn the region into a busy trade route and give it the much-needed economic push. Japan International Cooperaton Agency (Jica) said Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe has expressed intention to provide loans for road connectivity in the Northeast that will also boost regional connectivity.Japan will also lend a hand in improving NH 40 that connects Shillong to Dawki in Meghalaya close to the Bangladesh border.The bilateral cooperation with Japan in infrastructure projects in the Northeast, an area out of bounds for Chinese investors for political reasons, has been stepped up of late.Soon after Abe’s India visit in December, Jica pledged around Rs 7,000 crore for two highways projects in Mizoram and Meghalaya.
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