Gross Budgetary Support to Northeast: Rs 3,36,640 crore spent in 8 yrs

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Huge investment in the last eight financial years in the northeastern states since 2014 has led to a robust connectivity boost in the region – road, railway, air, waterway, power, telecom etc.

According to a statistic from the Ministry of DoNER, such a connectivity boost to the region was possible due to the mandatory spending of 10 per cent of Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) by 55 non-exempted ministries/departments for the central sector and centrally-sponsored schemes in the northeastern region. As of August this year, the non-exempted union ministries and departments spent Rs 3,36,640.97 crore in the northeastern states in the past eight financial years, the break-up being Rs 24,819.18 crore in 2014-15, Rs 28,673.73 crore in 2015-16, Rs 29,367.90 crore in 2016-17, Rs 39,753.44 crore in 2017-18, Rs 46,054.80 crore in 2018-19, Rs 48,533.80 crore in 2019-20, Rs 48,563.80 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 70,874.32 crore in 2021-22.

According to DoNER statistics, the budgetary estimates for the northeastern states from fiscal 2014-15 to 2021-22 was Rs 3,73,062.05 crore. The amount was revised to Rs 3,50,353.46 crore later.

Several infrastructure development projects, including connectivity projects, have been taken up by the Ministries and Departments concerned with the Central Government in the region.

Air connectivity: The government completed 28 projects from 2016-17 to 2021-22 with an approved cost of Rs 975.58 crore and a completion cost of Rs. 979.07 crores. Fifteen projects are going on with a sanctioned amount of Rs 2,212.30 crore.

Waterway connectivity: The Government of India declared the River Brahmaputra from Dhubri (Bangladesh border) to Sadiya (891 km) as National Waterway-2 (NW-2) in 1988. The government is developing this waterway with a fairway of required depth and width, day and night navigation aids and terminals. Facilities created and planned would cost Rs 461 crore from 2020-2025. The River Barak was declared a National Waterway-16 (NW-16) in 2016. It connects Silchar, Karimganj and Badarpur in the Barak Valley of Assam with Haldia and Kolkata ports through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) Route. The facilities created and planned would cost Rs 145 crore from 2020-2025.

Also Read:  DoNER Minister urges Northeast officials to take advantage of 'Amrit Samay'

Also watch: