Maitri Setu (lit. ''friendship bridge''), also called Gateway of

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

,Maitri Setu & why the India-Bangladesh bridge is being touted as ‘Gateway to Northeast’
/ref> is a bridge on

Feni River Feni River ( bn, ফেনী নদী ; ISO: ''Phēnī Nadī'' ) is a river in southeastern Bangladesh and Tripura state of India. It is a trans-boundary river with an ongoing dispute about water rights. The Feni River originates in South Tripu ...

which links

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

port in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, thus providing a shorter and more economical alternate land route between India's eastern and western states compared to the longer route through Assam. On 9 March 2021, it was officially opened to public by the Prime Minister of India,

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

History

In June 2015, the foundation stone for the bridge was officially laid by Indian Prime Minister

and Bangladesh Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister ...

. The cost of constructing the bridge, as well as the approach roads to it in both Bangladesh and India, was borne by India. The NHIDCL was appointed to execute the project. The bridge connects Tripura with the

Chittagong port The Chittagong Port ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বন্দর) is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong and on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the port handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh's ...

in Bangladesh providing landlocked

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

with access to the sea, and enabling the transport of heavy machines and goods to North East India via Bangladesh. Bridge was constructed by

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

based Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Private Limited (DRA Infracon). The bridge was inaugurated on 9 March 2021 by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina via video conference. The bridge was named "Maitri Setu" symbolizing the growing friendship and bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh. The construction was taken up by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

at a project cost of ₹133

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

Significance

The bridge place a very important economic role as a major trade route to

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

, with access to

Chittagong Port The Chittagong Port ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বন্দর) is the main seaport of Bangladesh. Located in Bangladesh's port city of Chittagong and on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the port handles over 90 percent of Bangladesh's ...

, which is just from the border. Land route between

Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located on ...

and

Kolkata Port Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port, officially known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust (formerly Kolkata Port Trust), is the only riverine major port of India, located in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around from the sea. It is the olde ...

through this bridge is just 450 km via Bangladesh compared to the 1600 km land route via

Siliguri Corridor The Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's Neck, is a stretch of land around the city of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. at the narrowest section, this geo-political and geo-economical corridor connects the eight states of northeast I ...

. Logistics cost from Agartala to Kolkata Port will be 80% lower, as compared to the Siliguri Corridor, if the goods are sent through this bridge via Chattogram Port 200 km away.

Future connectivity

A rail link extension to

and

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; bn, কক্সবাজার, Kôksbajar; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and district headquarters in Southeastern Bangladesh. It is located south of the city of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the na ...

deep water port in

by rehabilitating the railway link from Santir Bazar railway station in India to

Feni Junction railway station Feni Junction Railway Station (Bengali language, Bengali: :bn:ফেনী জংশন রেলওয়ে স্টেশন, ফেনী জংশন রেলওয়ে স্টেশন) is a railway station located in Feni Sadar Upazi ...

in Bangladesh is planned which will also provide the strategic redundancy and alternative to Kaladan Multi-Modal project route if there is a war with China.As Smart as Sittwe: Going North-East by South-East
''First Post'', 2019.

References

{{reflist Bangladesh–India relations Roads in Tripura Roads in Bangladesh Bridges in India Bridges in Bangladesh Border crossings of India Border crossings of Bangladesh Bangladesh–India border crossings

History

Significance

Future connectivity

See also

References