Sittwe Port and NE

The inauguration earlier this month of the much-awaited Sittwe Port in Myanmar holds the potential for creating immense hope for boosting trade and economy in the Northeastern region through the neighbouring country, as well as giving a major fillip to India’s overall economy by strengthening connectivity to Southeast Asia. While the Sittwe Port was jointly inaugurated by Union Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the Deputy Prime Minister of Myanmar, Admiral Tin Aung San, on May 9, the event drew very little attention for some reason or another. Built with financial grant assistance from India as part of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP), the Sittwe Port in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has been built as an alternative route to the 22-km Siliguri corridor, also known as the Chicken’s Neck corridor. Though there has been much delay in the completion of the ambitious project, the Sittwe Port is expected to play a crucial role in connectivity and would lead to a 50 percent reduction in the cost and time of transportation of goods between Kolkata, Agartala, and Aizwal. Once it becomes fully operational, Sittwe Port will link the east coast of India to the northeastern states, resulting in considerable savings in cost and time as well as providing an alternative route for the northeast region to access the international sea route via the Sittwe port. The Sittwe port connects to Paletwa in Myanmar through an inland waterway and from Paletwa to Zorinpui in Mizoram through a road component. Moreover, goods from Kolkata to Sittwe Port can be shipped to Teknaf Port in Bangladesh, which is just 60 nautical miles from Sittwe. From Teknaf Port, goods can then be transported by road to Sabroom in Tripura, which is only about 300 km away. Situated on the Bangladesh-Tripura border, Sabroom already has a land port complete with customs and other facilities. Given this, Sittwe Port and the Kaladan Project will immensely benefit Tripura by way of a significant reduction in transportation time and logistics costs. While the Kolkata-Agartala road length is around 1600 km and takes four days through Siliguri, the Sittwe-Chittagong-Sarboom route will be done in two days, saving both cost and time.