India to join Trans-Asian rail network

Mumbai: India will join the Trans-Asian railway network that will link up countries across Asia and will spend about Rs3,000 crore to construct a link rail line with Myanmar, minister of state for railways, R Velu, informed the Lok Sabha.

The government has approved the signing and ratification of the inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Asian railway, the minister said in reply to a question.

"The missing link in India is from Jiribam (in Manipur) to Tamu in Myanmar. The construction of this link, as per the feasibility study conducted by the ministry of external affairs through RITES Ltd, is estimated to cost Rs2,941 crore," he said.

Velu said the railway ministry has sanctioned construction of 97 km new rail link on this portion, between Jiribam and Tupul near Imphal, at a cost of Rs727.5 crore.

The 81,000 km network stretches from Turkey and Iran in the west to Russia, China and South Korea in the north, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia, and Vietnam and Thailand in South East Asia.

"The agreement does not estimate the total investment required on the network," Velu said.

The inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Asian railway, conceived by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), was opened for signature during the ministerial conference on transport, Busan, South Korea, in November 2006.

The agreement defines and lists the railway lines of international importance, including the missing links, and lays down the guiding principles relating to technical characterstics for transport.