Comprehensive Infrastructure Development is Happening in North East: Minister at Rajya Sabha

Several initiatives have been taken by the Government in North Eastern Region (NER)to enhance connectivity in rural and urban areas during the last three years. These relate to improving air connectivity, rail connectivity, road connectivity, waterway and telecom connectivity in the NER. These inter-alia include:

• Air connectivity: Ongoing development of new Greenfield Airports at Holongi, Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh Airportin Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya,etc.
• Rail connectivity: During the last three years, 136 km New Line (Bogibeel bridge with linking lines between Dibrugarh and North Bank line, and Agartala – Sabroom New line)and 113 km Doubling (Lumding – Hojai  patch) have been commissioned.
• 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; 2laning of Aizawl – Tuipang NH-54 (351 km) in Mizoram; 4laning of Imphal – Moreh section of NH-39 (20 km) and 2-laning of 75.4 km in Manipur.
• The details of habitations connected and rural road-length constructed in North Eastern Region States under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)during the last three years and 2021-22 (up to 26.11.2021) are given at Annexure I.
• 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.
• 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.

In addition, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), through its schemes of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) and its successor North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC), and North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) has also taken steps to bridge the social and physical infrastructure gaps in the NER. Under the erstwhile NLCPR scheme, since inception, 618 projects worth Rs.6,342.83 crore under road & bridges sector were sanctioned, out of which 427 projects worth Rs.3,408.84 crore have been completed so far and remaining projects are at various stages of implementation. Under NESIDS, for enhancing connectivity of NER, 35 projects worth Rs.1,138.57 crore under road & bridges sector were sanctioned during the last three years. Further, under Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) package of Assam, 11 road & bridges projects worth Rs.148.91 crore were sanctioned during the last three years.During the last three years, 22 road projects costing Rs. 1360.20 crore were sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong. Out of these, one project costing Rs. 7.43 crore is under ‘Schemes of NEC’ and remaining twenty-one costing Rs. 1,352.77 crore are under NERSDS.MDoNER has also sanctioned and released Rs.580 crore for Agartala (India) - Akhaura (Bangladesh) New Rail Link Project.

As on 28 April, 2018, all the inhabited un-electrified census villages stood electrified across the country including North Eastern States under Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY). Further, it has been reported that, as on 31.03.2021, 2.817 crore willing un-electrified households have been electrified, including over 26.14 lakh households in NER. The State-wise details of electrification of households since launch of Saubhagya scheme in the North Eastern Regionare given at Annexure-II.

Under NESIDS, so far 04 power projects worth Rs.231.98 crore have been sanctioned in various North Eastern States. Under NLCPR scheme, 239 power projects worth Rs. 2,979.48 crore were sanctioned, out of which 211 projects worth Rs. 2031.79 crore have been completed so far.

Under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, funds are released to the State Governments and implementing agencies (States Autonomous Bodies, ICAR Institutes, etc.) to increase production and productivity of food crops (like Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Coarse Cereals) and commercial crops (like Cotton, Jute and Sugarcane) as per approved action plans. In addition, under ‘Schemes of NEC’,a total number of 14 projects costing Rs. 55.66 crore were sanctioned for promotion of cash crops in the NER during the last seven years (FY 2014-15 to 2020-21).

This information was given by The Minister for Development of North East Region Shri. G. Kishan Reddy in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.