Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari today said that to strengthen connectivity with Southeast Asia, the government would kick-start work on highway from Meghalaya to Myanmar, as part of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral pact, probably from next month.<br/>'<br/>Addressing the conclave on green ports and oil spill management in Mumbai today, Mr. Gadkari said, the government is planning waterway connectivity up to Myanmar via Bangladesh using Brahmaputra river, and expects the project to be completed soon. He said that waterways are more cost effective than roads and railways, so any goods required to be traded to Myanmar or Bangladesh could be done in a very cost effective manner. He informed that the cabinet has approved 2,000 crore rupees from a central fund for development of water transport, operationalising at least 10 of the 111 national waterways by next year is on top of the government's agenda.<br/>'<br/>He also informed that massive work worth 5,000 crore rupees is already underway on Ganga around 1,620 km, with World Bank assistance, which is the National Waterway No 1.Pitching for environment-friendly initiatives, Mr Gadkari said that electric commercial and passenger vehicles may be launched in a big way, as a move to curb dependence on crude oil and cut emissions. He noted that India needs to encourage electric as well as bio-diesel and ethanol-fuelled vehicles. <br/>'<br/><br/>Mr Gadkari also suggested that shipping corporations should explore use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative source of fuel to save on costs. The minister told that he would discuss lowering the goods and services tax (GST) rates on hybrid vehicles with the finance ministry.