Passenger movement through Maitri Setu which connects India and Bangladesh in South Tripura district will start by September this year, a senior government official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated the Maitri setu on March 9, 2021. The bridge is built over the Feni river which flows between the Indian boundary in Tripura state and Bangladesh. The 1.9 km long bridge joins Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh.

"The Maitri setu has already been inaugurated. The land port is almost ready... The movement of passengers through the bridge will commence in September. It will take two or three months to introduce goods movement after passenger movement gets underway," Tripura's Industries and Commerce department secretary Kiran Gitte said at a press conference on Friday.

The goods movement through the bridge is seen as strategically important not only for the state but also for the entire northeast as Chittagong port of Bangladesh is just 80 km from Tripura's Sabroom.

Gitte said Kamalasagar border haat in Tripura's Sepahijala district, which was closed down due to the Covid pandemic, will be reopening shortly. At present, Srinagar border haat, located in South Tripura district is operational.

Asserting that setting up of industrial estates along the national highways is the top priority of the government; Gitte said the national highways have developed a lot during the past few years.

"If trade and business do not gain momentum, the objective of a facelift of national highways will be in vain. Therefore, we are laying stress on setting up industrial estates along national highways to assist the existing industrial estates," he said.

He said the state has signed 14 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) amounting to Rs 1,861.51 crore at the North-East Investment summit held in Delhi on March 6. Out of these, six entrepreneurs have already invested Rs 29.85 crore for setting up of industrial units in the northeastern state.

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