Rs.2.66 Lakh Crore Spent In Last 7 Years For North East Development: G Kishan Reddy

Towards this, all 54 non-exempted Central Ministries/Departments are mandated to spend at least 10% of their Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes in North Eastern Region (NER). Actual expenditure of nearly Rs.2.66 lakh crore has been made in the period from 2014-15 to 2020-21 accordingly, the details of which are given in Table 1 below.

Important initiatives have been taken by the Government during the last six years for improving air connectivity, rail connectivity, road connectivity, power, waterways and telecom connectivity, thereby accelerating the development of the North Eastern Region. A summary of these initiatives is given in Annexure I.

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) has also taken steps to bridge the social and physical infrastructure gaps and facilitate development of the NER on a large scale. In addition, under the different schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong, developmental projects have been supported across the 8 NER States. State-wise details of projects sanctioned so far under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR)-State, North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and specific Assam packages being administered by Ministry of DoNER and the projects sanctioned over the last 6 years under Schemes of NEC are given at Annexure-II. Further,the State-wise details of the ongoing projects of MDoNER and NEC as on 30^th November 2021, are given at Annexure-III.

This information was given by Minister for Development of North Eastern Region, Shri G. Kishan Reddy in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

Under various schemes/packages of MDoNER during the financial year 2003-04 to 2013-14, funds amounting to Rs.8,271.03 crore, were released to the North Eastern States, including Assam. These funds are released to the State Governments project-wise; and at the time of release of subsequent installment, utilization certificate of funds released earlier is obtained from the State Governments, project-wise. The funds released to the State Governments under various schemes from 2003-04 to 2014-15 by NEC, Shillong amounts to Rs.7,259.18 crore.

Under Schemes of NEC, funds have been allocated to many NGOs, including NGOs from Assam and other North Eastern States. The details of the year-wise sanctioned projects/events to NGOs from 2016-17 to 2020-21 is given below:

Annexure-I

Initiatives taken by the Government for improving connectivity in the North East Region

• Air connectivity: Ongoing development of new Greenfield Airports at Holongi and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Silchar Airports in Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya and Agartala Airport in Tripura, etc.

• Rail connectivity: Presently, 20 projects, for new lines as well as doubling, costing Rs.74,485 crore for 2,011 km length falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region are at different stages of planning/ approval/ execution, out of which 321 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.26,874 crore incurred upto March, 2021.

• Road Connectivity: Major ongoing Capital Road Connectivity projects in NER include 4 Laning of Dimapur-Kohima Road (62.9 km) in Nagaland; 4 laning of Nagaon bypass to Holongi (167 km) in Arunachal Pradesh; Alternate two-lane Highway from Bagrakote to Pakyong (NH-717A) (152 km) in Sikkim; 2 laning of Aizawl – Tuipang NH-54 (351 km) in Mizoram; 4 laning of Imphal – Moreh section of NH-39 (20 km) and 2-laning of 75.4 km in Manipur. A total of 4,105.87 km of road projects have been completed by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in NER in the last six years (including 2021-22, upto November 2021).

• Telecom connectivity projects in NER include Mobile connectivity in the 8 NER States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, seamless coverage along National Highways, as well as Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in NER.

• Power Connectivity: Through various flagship schemes such as North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) and Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening of Transmission & Distribution Systems in NER States, the power connectivity in NER has been improved. Under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution infrastructure including rural electrification has been undertaken. Further, under Saubhagya scheme launched with the objective to achieve universal household electrification through providing electricity connections to all un-electrified households in rural areas and all poor households in urban areas, 26,14,659 households have been electrified in NER as on 31.03.2021.

• Waterway connectivity: 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 are ongoing projects in the NER.

Annexure -II

Under the erstwhile Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme, 1,635 projects worth Rs.16,233.78 crore were sanctioned, of which 1,204 projects worth Rs.9,557.20 crore have been completed, while 431 projects worth Rs.6,676.59 crore are being funded till their completion. Under North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), for enhancing connectivity of NER, 110 projects worth Rs.2,563.14 crore have been sanctioned and are at various stages of completion. Further, under KarbiAnglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) package of Assam, 25 projects costing Rs.235.88 crore have been sanctioned, out of these 02 projects worth Rs.6.26 crore have been completed so far. In addition, 07 projects costing Rs.111.92 crore have been identified for sanction. Under Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) package of Assam, 65 projects costing Rs.749.63 crore have been sanctioned and out of these, 54 projects costing Rs.589.11 crore have been completed. Under Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC) package of Assam, 11 projects, costing Rs.170.82 crore have been sanctioned, and 4 projects costing Rs.29 crore have been identified for sanction.

*NESIDS came into being in 2017-18. As these projects were sanctioned thereafter, all these projects are presently on-going.

Annexure-III

*In addition, 22 projects with approved cost of Rs.1,503.78 crore under North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) and 5 projects with approved cost of Rs.928.46 crore under NLCPR – Central are also on-going in North Eastern States.