Several Infrastructure Projects Taken For Northeast: DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh

NEW DELHI: For the development of infrastructure in the north-eastern States, the Centre has taken up several infrastructure projects which include projects of road and rail connectivity, modernisation and development of airports, development of inland waterways, telecom, and power among others.

For improvement of connectivity and road infrastructure in the region, under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) a length of 6,418 km has been approved, and out of which about 5,273 km road has been sanctioned for execution at an estimated cost of Rs.57,518 crore. Of the sanctioned 5,273 km, a length of 3,029 km (as on March 31, 2019) has been completed against a total expenditure of Rs.30,315 crore.

In the rail sector, projects such as Jiribam-Imphal, Dimapur (Dhansiri) – Zubza (Kohima), Agartala-Sabroom, Teteliya-Byrnihat, Byrnihat-Shillong, Bhairabi-Sairang, Murokongselek-Pasighat, and Agartala (India) – Akhaura (Bangladesh) among others have been taken up for the development of rail connectivity infrastructure in the region.

In respect of air connectivity, mention may be made of the modernization and development of airports at Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, and Tezu. A Greenfield airport at Hollongi (Itanagar) has also been sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs.645.63 crore. The Greenfield Airport at Pakyong has been constructed at a cost of Rs.553.50 crore and is now operational.

A total of 19 new waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) in the region. An expenditure of Rs 270.50 crore was incurred on projects of National Waterway (NW) No. 2 (River Brahmaputra) and NW-16 (River Barak) and studies for 18 new NWs, in the last three years.

In order to augment tele-connectivity, Bharat Net project is being implemented to connect all the 11,956 Gram Panchayats (5860 in phase-I and 6096 in phase-II) at a cost of Rs.644.55 crore in the region, for providing broadband connectivity in the Gram Panchayats in a phased manner. Comprehensive Telecom Development Project (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region at an estimated cost of Rs.5,336.18 crore is being implemented to install 6,673 mobile towers for 8,621 identified uncovered villages, 321 mobile towers for National Highways and strengthening of transmission network in the NER.

In the power sector, projects for augmenting transmission and distribution system have been taken up under Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening of Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (CSST&DS) at an estimated cost of Rs.4,754.42 crore and North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) for the States of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam at an estimated cost of Rs.5,111.33 crore.

In addition to above, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has also taken up projects for filling gaps in infrastructure through its schemes such as NLCPR-State, North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS), North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC).

This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. (PIB)

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