A decision on the implementation of the Sethusamudram shipping canal project will be taken in a month, Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari said on Monday.
At a press conference in New Delhi, which was televised at the National Informatics Centre in Chennai, he said the RITES (formerly Rail India Technical and Economic Services) had completed its study, which would soon be placed before the Cabinet.
However, Mr. Gadkari reiterated his statement made in Parliament in August that the Ram Sethu would not be broken to facilitate the project. The RITES study explored alternatives to the current alignment to save the structure. He said he would visit the Ram Sethu before forwarding the study to the Cabinet.
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The Minister said a direct shipping service between Chennai and Yangon would be launched in the first week of October, with a tentative port rotation of Chennai-Krishnapatnam-Yangon and back to Colombo.