India's external affairs ministry would provide necessary funds for the Bangladesh portion of the Agartala-Akhaura rail project. The DoNER ministry's funds would be spent for the Indian portion of the project.
The NITI Aayog had decided in a meeting in Delhi to put in place the vital railway project between India and Bangladesh by December 2017.
Indian and Bangladesh governments have decided to start a new rail link to ease surface transport. India will build a 15-km railway tracks linking Tripura’s capital Agartala withBangladesh’s southeastern city of Akhaura, an important railway junction connected...
more... to Chittagong port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka.
An agreement to implement the railway project was signed between India’s former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina during her visit to India in January 2010.
The Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) would lay the new railway tracks on both sides of the border. Of the 15 km rail line, five km of tracks fall in the Indian Territory.
India has been keen to establish the Agartala-Akhaura rail link as it would facilitate easier connectivity between West Bengal and northeastern states through Bangladesh.