Indian Railways has approved the final site study of a 223 km rail line from Sairang (Aizawl) to Hbichhuah in Mizoram, near the Myanmar border, with an emphasis on North-East India.

Considering the strategic importance of the region and vis-à-vis economic development, the Ministry of Railways has decided to take up the project. This project will provide one more access point to Northeast India through Hbichhuah, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) CPRO Sabyasachi De said.

The project is strategically important as it is expected that the railway link to Hbichhuah, once completed, will lower the cost and time of transportation of goods via Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the northeast.

Earlier on 9 May, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Myanmar’s Deputy Prime Minister Admiral Tin Aung San had jointly inaugurated the Sittwe Port in Myanmar and received the first Indian cargo ship.