Sadia (Assam), May 26 (Agencies): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Dhola-Sadia Bridge, India’s longest river bridge, over the Lohit in the eastern-most tip of Assam connecting Arunachal Pradesh.

After inaugurating the Rs 2,056-crore strategic bridge at Sadia in Assam's Tinsukia district, Modi walked a short distance on it.

Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party government completed three years in office on Friday, named the bridge after singer Bhupen Hazarika.

A vehicle carrying the prime minister, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister Sarbanada Sonowal and senior government officials then passed over it.

The 9.15km bridge is 3.55km longer than the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai. It has a three-lane carriageway and connects Sadia town in Assam's Tinsukia district with Dhola village in Arunachal Pradesh across the river.

The bridge will reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, by four hours as the earlier means of transport was only by river.

”The inauguration of the bridge marks the end of a long wait for the people of this area,” Modi's office quoted him as saying in a speech, adding the bridge “opens the door for economic development on a big scale”.

Modi's trip to Assam, during which he will deliver a public address later in the day, rounded off a week of festivities and briefings to highlight his government's achievements. He embarks on a European tour next week.