The construction work has begun on Rs 1,600 crore Mizoram-Myanmar Kaladan road project. The 109 km road project will connect Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui on the Mizoram border. It is a part of USD 484 million Kaladan Multimodal project.

The road passes through dense forests and hilly areas. Ircon Infrastructure was appointed as consultant for the project. Based on bids received in June 2016, the contract to execute the project was awarded to C&C Constructions in June 2017 with a completion period of 36 months.

However, C&C Constructions had to wait till January 2018 to obtain necessary clearances from Myanmar government to begin ground work. The project is unlikely to be completed by 2019.

The project has already been affected as it took six to seven months to receive clearance. Also, the monsoon season beginning from April-May to September-October in Myanmar would also affect the pace of work.

Once the project is completed, it will connect Mizoram with Sittwe Port in Rakhine State of Myanmar.

India has completed the rest of Kaladan project work in Myanmar, which includes construction of Sittwe Port on Lakadan river mouth in Rakhine, construction of a river terminal 158 upstream at Paletwa and dredging of Kaladan river.

On the Indian side, work is underway to extend the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway by 90 km to the international border at Zorinpui. Also, a project is underway for four-laning the 300-km highway from Myanmar border to Aizawl, at an investment of Rs 6,000 crore.