India is all set to develop the Payra Port in Patuakhali district of Bangladesh, and is expected to soon send a high-level committee to the country in this regard. This was stated by India’s Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari recently, who went on to add that India has taken preliminary steps already to construct a deep water port at Payra.
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“We are exploring the opportunity to set up a port in Bangladesh and further strengthen our ties. We have sent a committee to Bangladesh in this connection,” Gadkari said, adding that a final decision will be taken after the recommendations from the committee, and investment proposals finalised only after that.
The External Affairs Ministries of India and Bangladesh have already held a preliminary round of talks in this regard, the Union Minister said, adding that a Shipping Ministry delegation, led by a Joint Secretary will soon visit Bangladesh to study the site and prepare a detailed project report.
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It may be mentioned here that located on the banks of the Andharmanik River, this port was expected to start operations from March 2016. However, according to reports, the port would only be able to commence full-fledged deep seaport operations from 2023 and would ensure that imported products from the outer anchorage of Payra to Dhaka, Narayanganj, Khulna, Barisal and other places are transported irrespective of the tidal conditions in the sea.
With the opening of the port, which is expected to emerge as the lifeline of the proposed Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), it would also be possible to export goods to any country with Bhutan and Nepal expected to have better, easier access and use of the Payra Port.
The port is expected to have world-class services and provide more additional facilities compared to the Chittagong Port, besides being linked with the whole country by waterways and also by rail and roadways at a later stage.
