Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Centre allocated Assam Rs 3,128 crore as special assistance for capital investment and released Rs 1,514 crore of it for the financial year 2023–24. Apart from this, the Centre approved 51 projects worth Rs 4,345 crore for the Northeast under the NEC (North Eastern Council).
According to sources, the allocated Rs 3,128 crore will help the state in the development of infrastructure. Already, some projects under this scheme are underway.
According to Union Minister for Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER), G. Kishan Reddy, the Central Government plans to complete the rail, air, and road projects in the Northeast to strengthen connectivity in the region.
A total of 19 railway infrastructure projects, falling fully or partly in the North Eastern States, covering a total length of 1909 km at a cost of Rs. 81,941 crore, have been undertaken and are at different stages of planning, approval, or execution. Out of these, 482 km of length have been commissioned, and an expenditure of Rs. 37,713 crore has been incurred up to March 2023, Reddy said.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) on October 21, 2016 to enhance regional connectivity across the country from unserved and under-served regions in the country and make air travel affordable to the masses. Airports at Rupsi, Tezu, Tezpur, Pasighat, Jorhat, Lilabari, Shillong, Pakyong, Itanagar, and Dimapur, involving 64 routes, have been operationalized under UDAN in the North Eastern Region. There were nine operational airports in 2014 in the North Eastern Region, he said. Additionally, the Advanced Landing Ground at Ziro has also been operationalized. Further, 13 major infrastructure works worth Rs. 1543.70 crore are under implementation in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura, he said.
On road connectivity, the Union minister said that a total of 261 road projects under different Schemes of MoRTH with a total sanctioned cost of Rs. 1,02,594 crore are under implementation through the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), and State Public Works Departments (PWDs) in the North Eastern States.
In addition, the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region, under the erstwhile North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) and the present North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), has sanctioned a total of 77 road projects amounting to Rs. 3372.58 crore, he said.
The necessary environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is done before starting the new projects. The requisite Environment and Forestry clearance is also obtained by the concerned Agencies of the Ministry, Department, or State Government, as per law, Reddy said.
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