The World Bank has sanctioned Rs 980 crore to dredge the Brahmaputra River.
It is an initiative to develop waterways to Bangladesh and to other South East Asian countries in a bid to boost trade and industry in the Northeast.
Opening up of the Brahmaputra waterways for trade will lead to a reduction in the cost of transportation of goods and will ultimately result in Assam becoming a export hub for the South East Asian countries.
With the opening up of the waterways, Assam gets a readymade market of Bangladesh and West Bengal with 25 crore consumers and if one is ambitious enough, trade can be extended to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and other South East Asian countries.