In a bid to boost transport services between the two countries, India has launched a new railway line directly connecting Tripura in north-eastern India with Bangladesh entailing an investment of ₹580 crore, Union Minister for Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Jitendra Singh said that work on the 45-km-long mega rail project already started to link Agartala with Akhaura, a sub-district of Chittagong in Bangladesh. The cost of the Indian portion of the project, from Agartala to the Bangladesh border, is being funded by the DoNER, while the Bangladeshi portion of the rail link is being funded by the Ministry of External Affairs as grant assistance. He added that the ambitious project would open up Tripura and the entire north-eastern region to the outside world facilitating augmentation of trade and commerce as well as movement of goods and services between India and Bangladesh by using the Chittagong Port
