Maitri Setu Set to Boost Trade between India and Bangladesh by September

Passenger movement through Maitri Setu, connecting India and Bangladesh, will commence by September. The bridge was inaugurated in March 2021. Goods movement will follow, enhancing strategic ties and trade. Industrial estates along national highways in Tripura are prioritized, with significant investments already committed.

Passenger movement through Maitri Setu, which connects India and Bangladesh in South Tripura district, is set to commence by September this year, according to a senior government official.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the Maitri Setu on March 9, 2021. The bridge spans 1.9 kilometers over the Feni river, linking Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh.

"The Maitri Setu has already been inaugurated. The land port is almost ready... The movement of passengers through the bridge will commence in September. It will take two or three months to introduce goods movement after passenger movement gets underway," said Kiran Gitte, Tripura's Industries and Commerce department secretary, at a press conference on Friday.

The goods movement through the bridge is viewed as strategically significant not only for Tripura but also for the entire northeast, given that the Chittagong port of Bangladesh is just 80 kilometers from Tripura's Sabroom.

Gitte also mentioned that the Kamalasagar border haat in Tripura's Sepahijala district, which had been closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will be reopening soon. Currently, the Srinagar border haat in South Tripura district is operational.

Emphasizing the government's priority on setting up industrial estates along national highways, Gitte noted that the highways have experienced substantial development in recent years.

"If trade and business do not gain momentum, the objective of a facelift of national highways will be in vain. Therefore, we are laying stress on setting up industrial estates along national highways to assist the existing industrial estates," he stated.

He revealed that the state had signed 14 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 1,861.51 crore at the North-East Investment Summit held in Delhi on March 6. Six entrepreneurs have already invested Rs 29.85 crore in establishing industrial units in the northeastern state.

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