New Delhi: Admitting that the present law and order situation in Myanmar has been hampering several India-aided development projects in the neighbouring country, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said that all efforts are being cohesively undertaken to expedite the ongoing development projects.
“The matter has been taken up at the highest level through our mission in Yangon and at various relevant bilateral mechanisms to ensure expeditious implementation of the Government of India-funded projects in Myanmar,” the MEA said to a Parliamentary Panel recently. The ministry said that several development initiatives undertaken by the Government of India in Myanmar have been hampered due to the present deteriorating security situation.
“Due to the ongoing security situation in Myanmar, the pace of work in the development projects, including the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Project and India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway, have been impacted,” the MEA said. The prevailing security challenges and local conditions are posing intermittent hindrances and at times, access to the site is also restricted to Indian nationals for both the Kaladan project and trilateral highway projects.
“However, despite challenges, the MEA has completed the operationalisation of the Sittwe port under the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project in May 2023. The road component of the Kaladan project has also been in progress since the project was awarded to IRCON in March 2023 both these projects are being monitored regularly by our mission in Myanmar and, also, at the ministry and regular consultations are being held with the agencies concerned and leadership in the Government of Myanmar,” the ministry said. Work on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Highway has been impacted because of the ongoing security situation in Myanmar, the ministry said.
Significantly, the Revised Estimate (RE) 2022-23 under ‘Aid to Myanmar’ was reduced to Rs 500 crore from the Budgetary Estimate (BE) allocation of Rs 600 crore based on the actual pace of project implementation and budget utilisation pattern and also taking into consideration the challenging security situation in Myanmar. The BE 2023-24 has been pegged at Rs 400 crore based on anticipated expenditure to be incurred during the financial year.
The ministry has informed that activities under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP) in Chin State and the Naga Self-administered Zone in Myanmar, and under the Rakhine State Development Programme (RSDP) have continued.
It said that the current law and order situation in Myanmar has slowed the project execution. “However, bituminous concrete work is progressing between km 60–112 with frequent intermittent disruptions. The physical progress in the project is 50 per cent as of date,” the ministry informed.
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