India is committed to infrastructure projects in Myanmar, including the Tamanthi and Shwezaye hydropower projects; the Shwe oil and natural gas fields, which Indian companies are involved in operating; and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport (KMMT) network, which is designed to encourage closer links between the port of Kolkata, Myanmar's Sittwe port and, through road networks in Myanmar, India's northeastern states. The largest and most strategically important of India's investments in Myanmar is the KMMT. Construction began in 2010 and consists of three general phases: dredging and modernizing the port at Sittwe, near the Shwe oil and natural gas fields on Myanmar's northwest coast; dredging sections of the Kaladan River to allow for larger ships to pass up to Paletwa in northern Myanmar; and linking Paletwa by road to the Indian state of Mizoram, which would provide the isolated northeast a second point of entry in addition to the Siliguri Corridor. If completed, the KMMT would allow goods from eastern Indian ports such as Kolkata to reach India's northeastern states more cheaply. The KMMT would also enhance economic ties between coastal Indian urban hubs and the Myanmar economy, an attractive prospect for India as Myanmar's 60 million people begin to consume more foreign goods.
