TMB Agency
New Delhi: The Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, G. Kishan Reddy in the Rajya Sabha has given a statement that various Central Sector Schemes/ Centrally Sponsored Schemes are being implemented by central ministries/departments under 10% Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) in the northeast. Besides, the ministry in coordination with central ministries/departments is focusing on the development of physical and social infrastructure in order to improve connectivity and socio-economic development in North Eastern Region.
Some of the new infrastructure schemes/projects approved during the last five years for the development of North Eastern States under the Central Sector Scheme of Government inter-alia include new Greenfield Airport at Holongi, Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh Airport in Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya; New Rail line in Assam such as Sibsagar – Jorhat (62 Km); Salona- Khumtai (99Km); Tezpur- Silghat (25 Km); Mahisasan (India)- Zero Point (Bangladesh) New Line (3 Km); Doubling Rail line in Assam such as Saraighat Bridge doubling line (7 Km); Kamakhya-New Guwahati Quadruppling (21 Km); Doubling of Lumding- Tinsukia Jn-Dibrugarh (381 Km); Mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam; Mobile Connectivity in Uncovered villages in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh (National Highways only) of North Eastern Region and seamless coverage along National Highway; Mobile connectivity in Meghalaya and along National Highways on 2G+4G Technology; Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in North Eastern Region; Development of National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra, 891 Km) Sadia to Bangladesh Border and National Waterway-16 (River Barak, 121 Km) Bhanga-Lakhipur Stretch Including Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route; Indradhanush Gas Grid Project covering all North Eastern Region States; North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) in six North Eastern Region States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, through its schemes of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC), North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) has also taken steps to bridge the social and physical infrastructure gaps in North Eastern Region (NER). During the last five years, 76 projects worth Rs. 1878.36 crore were sanctioned under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) to North Eastern Region States. Under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region provides financial assistance for physical infrastructure projects relating to water supply, power and connectivity. During the last five years, 99 projects worth of Rs. 2452.62 crore has already been sanctioned till March, 2021 against which an amount of Rs. 1112.98 crore have been released under North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme for the development of North East Region States. During the last five years (FY 2016-17 to FY 2020-21), North Eastern Council, Shillong has sanctioned 215 infrastructure projects costing Rs.1267.48 crore under Central Sector Scheme/Projects for development of North Eastern States.
Several initiatives have been undertaken by the Union Government to develop North Eastern Region holistically, especially Assam, for improving basic infrastructure and providing road, rail, water, telecom and air connectivity in the region. These initiatives include new Greenfield Airport at Holongi, Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh Airport, Assam; Imphal Airport, Manipur; Barapani Airport, Meghalaya; New Rail line in Assam such as Sibsagar – Jorhat (length- 62 km); Salona- Khumtai (length- 99 km); Tezpur- Silghat (length- 25 km); Mahisasan (India)- Zero Point (Bangladesh) New Line (length-3 km); New Doubling Rail line in Assam such as Saraighat Bridge doubling line (length- 7 km); Kamakhya-New Guwahati Quadrupling (length-21 km); Doubling of Lumding- Tinsukia Jn-Dibrugarh (length-381 km); Mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam at revised cost of Rs. 2029 crore; Mobile Connectivity in uncovered villages in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh and seamless coverage along National Highways; Mobile connectivity in Meghalaya and along National Highways on 2G+4G Technology; Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in NER; Development of National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra, length: 891 km) Sadia to Bangladesh Border and National Waterway-16 (River Barak, length: 121 km); Indradhanush Gas Grid Project covering all NER States; Bio Refinery Plant, Numaligarh, Assam; AIIMS at Guwahati; North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) in six NER States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura; Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, etc.
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has sanctioned 804 projects worth Rs 8504.23 crore till date for development of Assam. The scheme-wise details of these projects are as under:
