STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Union Minister of State for External Affairs Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi identified 55 central ministries to spend 10 per cent of their budget for improving logistics infrastructure in the Northeast.
The Union minister said this while addressing the CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) North East Logistics Conclave in Guwahati today.
The Union minister said, "The Northeast is seeing the dawn of new hopes and opportunities for becoming the manufacturing hub of the country with PM Gati Shakti with world-class seamless multimodal connectivity."
The Union minister mentioned that PM GATISHAKTI would ensure world-class seamless multimodal connectivity providing complete information on resources, manpower and infrastructure projects in the Northeast. He further elaborated that this would bring down cost overruns for the infrastructure projects, which would track timely implementation. The gatishakti would also provide access to difficult areas in the Northeast through technological intervention and policy initiatives and a massive boost to the 200-billion logistics economy in the region.
He said that 'the Ministry of External Affairs is working very closely with Bangladesh to improve the rail, air, road and water connectivity. The speedy implementation of this project connecting NE and Bangladesh would be path-breaking in the region.
State Industries and Commerce Minister Bimal Bora said that PM's Gatishakti would accelerate the project of peace and development in the region. He mentioned that Assam is proposing to set up the second logistics park at Silchar after Jogigopa. Assam is also the only state in the country with a dedicated logistics department headed by a secretary-level officer. The government has already earmarked 15 per cent of the land for logistics development, he said.
Santana Chakma, Tripura Minister for Industry & Commerce, Social Welfare & Social Education, stated that Tripura got the status of the first mover state in terms of implementing logistics policy. She mentioned that the state is coming up with the logistics policy soon. An amount of Rs 35 crore has been sanctioned for the infrastructure of industrial estates under the state action plan.
Assam Rifles Director General Lt General P C Nair mentioned that the Assam Rifles is hopeful that the VAHAN app will help to track the vehicle movement across the borders of the Northeast, which would help to address the security concerns of the region.
CII president-designate R Dinesh said that the National Logistics Policy is likely to bring down the cost of doing business in the Northeast. Northeast, with a pool of educated youth, can avail technology for reaching the global market.
CII's Northeast co-chairman Pradeep Bagla said that the logistics conclave would set the ball rolling for the Northeast, and the CII would follow up on the takeaways of the conclave and try to ensure that the policies.
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