Under Bharat Mala project, the ministry will construct nearly 2,000 km of roads that will connect India’s major highways with international trade points. The ministry will spend Rs 25,000 crore to develop road connectivity with several south Asian countries. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said India has proposed USD 1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects with ASEAN. Apart from this, India has set up a project development fund of USD 77 million to develop manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
“The ASEAN India maritime transport cooperation agreement is being negotiated. An Asian India civil aviation task force has been established to see optimisation of air connectivity,” he said. Gadkari said ASEAN and India have also agreed to establish a maritime transport working group among India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to examine the feasibility of shipping networks.