India plans to join trans-Asian rail network

India has decided to join the trans-Asian railway network that will connect countries across Asia and will have to spend about Rs 3,000 crore to construct a rail link with Myanmar, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

The Centre had approved the signing and ratification of the inter-governmental agreement on trans-Asian Railway, Minister of State for Railways R Velu said in reply to a question.

"The missing link is from Jiribam (in Manipur) to Tamu in Myanmar. The construction of this link, according to the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs through RITES Ltd, is estimated to cost Rs 2,941 crore," he said.

The railway ministry has sanctioned construction of 97 km new rail link between Jiribam and Tupul near Imphal at a cost of Rs 727.5 crore, Velu said.

The inter-governmental agreement on trans-Asian railway network was negotiated under the aegis of UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and was opened for signature during the ministerial conference on transport at Busan, South Korea, in November 2006.

The agreement defines and lists the railway lines of international importance, including the missing links, and lays down the guiding principles relating to technical characteristics for transport.

The 81,000 km network stretches from Turkey and Iran in the west to Russia, China and South Korea in the north, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan in central Asia, and Vietnam and Thailand in South East Asia.

"The agreement does not estimate the total investment required on the network," Velu said.