Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma talks with Gadkari, Rajnath, Sitharaman and Jaishankar

 Discussions on

– Jorhat-Dibrugarh stretch of NH

– Defence Corridor

– Flood-resilient economy 

– Gateway of South East Asia 

– IIM Guwahati

 Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In the past two days, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met with PM Modi and several Union Ministers in New Delhi and discussed future development work in Assam with them. The proposed defence corridor, encouraging foreign investment, royalties for hydrocarbon industries, energy security, and other important issues were part of the wide-ranging subjects discussed. The CM met with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manoharlal Khattar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Environment and Forest Minister Bhupinder Yadav, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other ministers during his New Delhi visit.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in his meeting with Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, discussed the status of several road infrastructural work. The CM said, “Union minister has agreed to personally monitor the status of Jorhat-Dibrugarh section of the national highway, part of which will be completed this year. We also discussed accelerating all existing NHIA, NHIDCL and other central road projects in the state, including the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor, the underwater tunnel between Gohpur and Numaligarh and Guwahati Ring Road.”

During his meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today, the Chief Minister held discussions on a wide range of issues, and he said the FM has reassured that all support announced in the Union Budget will be extended to Assam to help build a flood-resilient economy. “We have also been assured that all issues pertaining to royalty from hydrocarbon industries in the state will be settled at the earliest. I also offered suggestions on improving the capacity-building of Assam’s chemical and hydrocarbon industries. The Finance Minister was gracious enough to consider them positively,” he said.

The Chief Minister said about his meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, “We had a positive discussion on establishing a Defence Corridor in Assam. To utilize Assam’s competitive advantage to become a defence manufacturing hub, we also deliberated on the possibility of organising a Defence Conclave in Assam.”

On his interaction with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the CM said, “It gives me great pleasure to say that the minister has consented to our request for Indian Institute of management (IIM) Guwahati, commencing courses from the next academic year. We also had a detailed discussion on means to augment technical education in Assam.”

About his talks with EAM Jaishankar, the CM said, “We deliberated upon a constructive role for Assam to strengthen the Act East Policy, encouraging foreign investors to be a part of Assam’s growth story, firmly establishing our state as a preferred gateway to South East Asia.”

Stating that his meeting with Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manoharlal Khattar revolved around the power sector, the CM said, “We had a detailed deliberation to augment Assam’s energy security, including ensuring all-around power availability for the state. A roadmap to introduce various reforms in the power sector was discussed, which, once implemented, will benefit consumers, distributors, and producers.”

Also Read: Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says Budget will be a game changer (sentinelassam.com)

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