The Cabinet Committee on Economics Affairs (CCEA) today approved road projects worth approximately Rs 3500 crore having national and international importance.

The international project to upgrade a 65 kilometre stretch on NH-39 will connect Imphal to Moreh, Manipur, under the Asian Highway project reducing travel time from 3.5 hours to 1.45 hours.

“Moreh touches the border of Myanmar (through which) we can now go to Bangkok (by road),” said Nitin Gadkari, union minister for road and transport.

The highway will pass through Imphal east, Thoubal, Kaching, Chandel and Tengnoupal and will be part-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“ADB is supporting us for this project for 50 percent of the cost,” he said. The cost of the project will be approximately Rs 1630 crore.

He said that the project will “boost export and import transactions between the neighbouring countries” even as it will bolster security over the border. The project is expected to be completed within three years and would create lakhs of local jobs.

“The total employment under this project is expected to be 2.67 lakh man days in the state of Manipur,” the minister said.

Underscoring the centre’s motive to “boost” North-east, the minister said that National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), set up specifically for North-east region, “aims to complete projects worth Rs 1,50,000 crore” before 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The second project that CCEA approved today connects Solapur and Bijapur in Maharashtra and Karnataka respectively.

The project covers a stretch of 110 km and is worth approximately Rs 1900 crore.

“We are constructing a four-lane road,” the minister said. The road will ease the traffic situation in the states.

He said the project, which had been lying dormant since 2012, would start in the next three months and would create employment up to 4.45 lakh man days.