Agartala, Feb 8: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha asserted on Saturday that once the newly built ‘Maitri Setu’ across the Feni river connecting India and Bangladesh becomes operational, the state will be the gateway for the northeastern states as well as south-east Asian countries.
Speaking on the second day of the two-day ‘Business Conclave’, the Chief Minister said that the vital ‘Maitri Setu’ approaching Bangladesh’s Chittagong sea port is ready to operationalise and it would make Tripura a gateway for northeastern states as well as south-east Asian countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his former Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the ‘Maitri Setu’ on March 9, 2021. The around 1.9 km-long double-lane ‘Maitri Setu’, built at the Indian expenditure of Rs 129 crore, connects Sabroom in southern Tripura with Chittagong seaport in Bangladesh via Ramgarh.
Saha said that besides the ‘Maitri Setu’, Agartala-Akhaura railway project is almost ready to connect the northeastern states with the rest of the country via Bangladesh and three modern integrated checkposts were set up along the Bangladesh border to boost trade and business, and facilitate smooth cross border movement.
Noting that the Prime Minister has given a ‘HIRA’ (Highways, Internet, Railways and Airways) model to Tripura, the Chief Minister said that currently, the state has total of six National Highways with a total length of 853 km while Agartala airport has been made international standard and this airport is the second busiest airport in northeastern region after the Guwahati airport.
A Special Economic Zone is being developed in southern Tripura’s border town Sabroom and many industrialists have expressed their willingness to invest funds in the zone. Tripura’s Sabroom town is just 72 km from Bangladesh’s Chittagong sea port, the only international port near the northeastern region of India.
Saying that Tripura is the second natural rubber producing state in the country after Kerala cultivating rubber in 1.10 lakh hectares, he said that many rubber-based industries can be set up in the state, which shares 856 border with Bangladesh.
To boost the natural rubber based industries, the second rubber park would be set up in southern Tripura’s Santir Bazar, Saha said. To do Rs 10,000 crore business on agarwood aromatics, the state government had already formulated policy on agarwood as Tripura now has over 5 million agar trees covering 2,000 hectares areas, he pointed out.
The Chief Minister said that Tripura has 21 species of bamboo and the state government has already undertaken a state bamboo mission for overall development of the most important resources.
“Over 1.49 lakh artisans in Tripura produce hundreds of different value-added products and numerous furniture worth Rs 35.34 crore from different types of bamboo.” He suggested creating a tourist circuit involving all the northeastern states and neighbouring countries. Claiming that Tripura is a fast moving state in the country, Saha said that the per capita income of Rs 1.77 lakh is an all time high while the GSDP grew at the rate of 8.9 per cent, second highest in the northeastern states.
Tripura has huge natural gas reserves and a power surplus state and it is a better performing state in the country, the Chief Minister stated. To attract investment in various sectors, the two-day “Destination Tripura — Business Conclave-2025” was organised and around 150 industrialists and investors from several states of the country took part in the summit.
IANS