Myanmar objects to BRO presence in trilateral KMTT road project

Myanmar has conveyed its apprehension over the deployment of the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for the completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport (KMTT) project, the Union government informed the parliamentary committee on home affairs. The military in Myanmar seized control in February this year, forcing thousands of Myanmarese nationals to seek shelter in India.

“While the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (NHIDCL) has not submitted its willingness despite several requests and personal meetings, BRO has not found favour with the Myanmar government for the implementation of the KMTT project. The ministry is exploring the involvement of other agencies like NPCC, NHAI, IRCON and RITES for the implementation of the project,” reads the action taken report, tabled before Parliament, on August 9.

Considered to be India’s new gateway to south-east Asia, the KMTT project has faced many hurdles with one of the contractors declaring bankruptcy in 2019. The project has two components — waterways and roadways. The waterways is almost complete and a port operator has been appointed jointly by India and Myanmar, officials said.


On the strategic roads in the northeast, the Department of North East Region told the panel that out of 12 road projects, “six have been completed which includes five projects in Assam and one in Meghalaya. The road projects in Manipur and Mizoram under North Eastern Road Sector Development Scheme are near completion.”

The panel, in its report, sought details of cost escalation for the India (Agartala)-Bangladesh (Akhaura) rail link that was to be completed in September this year. The government informed the committee that “progress of the Bangladesh portion of the rail link is slow mainly due to inadequate mobilisation of resources by the contractor appointed by the Bangladesh Railway and the Covid-induced lockdown in Bangladesh,” the report stated.