New Delhi, April 14: Union minister for shipping, road transport and highways T. R. Baalu said today that the environmental clearance for the Sethusamudram shipping channel project had come through and the government was going ahead with the proposal.

The project will entail dredging work to deepen the Palk Strait to achieve a 10-metre draft so that ships can sail through. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 2,233 crore.

At present, the Palk Strait is only 3 metres deep at certain places. As a result, ships have to take a detour around Sri Lanka to go to the east.