Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)

Pin It
Whatsapp

5-Aug-2021: Infrastructure development in NE Region

Various Central Sector Schemes/ Centrally Sponsored Schemes are implemented by Central Ministries/Departments under 10% Gross Budgetary Support (GBS). Besides, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in coordination with Central Ministries/Departments is focusing on the development of physical and social infrastructure in order to improve connectivity and socio economic development in North Eastern Region.

Some of the new infrastructure schemes/projects approved during the last five years for the development of North Eastern States under the Central Sector Scheme of Government inter-alia include new Greenfield Airport at Holongi, Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh Airport in Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya; New Rail line in Assam such as Sibsagar – Jorhat (62 Km); Salona- Khumtai  (99Km); Tezpur- Silghat (25 Km); Mahisasan (India)- Zero Point (Bangladesh) New Line (3 Km); Doubling Rail line in Assam such as Saraighat Bridge doubling  line (7 Km); Kamakhya-New Guwahati Quadruppling (21 Km); Doubling of Lumding- Tinsukia Jn-Dibrugarh (381 Km); Mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam;  Mobile Connectivity in Uncovered villages in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh (National Highways only) of North Eastern Region and seamless coverage along National Highway; Mobile connectivity in Meghalaya and along National Highways on 2G+4G Technology; Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in North Eastern Region; Development of National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra, 891 Km) Sadia to Bangladesh Border and National Waterway-16 (River Barak, 121 Km) Bhanga-Lakhipur Stretch Including Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route; Indradhanush Gas Grid Project covering all North Eastern Region States; North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) in six North Eastern Region States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura and Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, through its schemes of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC), North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) has also taken steps to bridge the social and physical infrastructure gaps in North Eastern Region (NER). During the last five years, 76 projects worth Rs. 1878.36 crore were sanctioned under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) to North Eastern Region States.  Under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region provides financial assistance for physical infrastructure projects relating to water supply, power and connectivity. During the last five years, 99 projects worth of Rs. 2452.62 crore has already been sanctioned till March, 2021 against which an amount of Rs. 1112.98 crore have been released under North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme for the  development of North East Region States.  During the last five years (FY 2016-17 to FY 2020-21), North Eastern Council, Shillong has sanctioned 215 infrastructure projects costing Rs.1267.48 crore under Central Sector Scheme/Projects for development of North Eastern States.

5-Aug-2021: Development of North Eastern Region

Several initiatives have been undertaken by the Union Government to develop North Eastern Region holistically, especially Assam, for improving basic infrastructure and providing road, rail, water, telecom and air connectivity in the region. These initiatives include new Greenfield Airport at Holongi, Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh Airport, Assam; Imphal Airport, Manipur; Barapani Airport,  Meghalaya;   New Rail line in Assam such as Sibsagar – Jorhat (length-  62 km); Salona- Khumtai  (length- 99 km); Tezpur- Silghat (length- 25 km); Mahisasan (India)- Zero Point (Bangladesh) New Line (length-3 km); New Doubling Rail line in Assam such as Saraighat Bridge doubling  line (length- 7 km); Kamakhya-New Guwahati Quadrupling (length-21 km); Doubling of Lumding- Tinsukia Jn-Dibrugarh (length-381 km); Mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam at  revised cost of Rs. 2029 crore;  Mobile Connectivity in uncovered villages in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh and seamless coverage along National Highways; Mobile connectivity in Meghalaya and along National Highways on 2G+4G Technology; Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in NER; Development of National Waterway-2 (River Brahmaputra, length: 891 km) Sadia to Bangladesh Border and National Waterway-16 (River Barak, length: 121 km); Indradhanush Gas Grid Project covering all NER States; Bio Refinery Plant, Numaligarh, Assam;  AIIMS at Guwahati;  North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) in six NER States of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura;  Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, etc.

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has sanctioned 804 projects worth Rs 8504.23 crore till date for development of Assam.

Ministry of DoNER has commissioned the Sector Specific, State specific holistic development plans in sectors like (a) Bamboo (b) Oil Palm (c) Horticulture (d) Handicrafts and Handlooms. These studies have been finalised by NEDFI/IIM Shillong and were circulated to the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Textiles, Concerned NER States and other stakeholders for implementation of the recommendations.

27 DPRs with estimated cost of Rs. 172.36 crore were received in NEC from Assam during the last three years for consideration under Schemes of NEC.  All  proposals submitted by state governments of NER and other agencies during the last three years (FY 2018-19 to FY 2020-21) could not be sanctioned due to ceiling on normative allocation of the states, budget constraints, etc. As per scheme guidelines of NLCPR, NESIDS, Special Packages, and Natural Calamity, projects are considered by the State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC). Thereafter, Inter Ministerial Committee/ NESIDS Committee/Project Approval Committee considers the recommendations of the SLEC for selection/ sanction of the project.

4-Oct-2017: Government constitutes a High Level Committee for proper management of water resources in North Eastern Region

The Government has constituted a high-level committee for proper management of the water resources in the North Eastern Region (NER) under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog. This is a sequel to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Guwahati in August this year to review the flood situation and relief work in the North Eastern States.

The Committee would facilitate optimising benefits of appropriate water management in the form of hydro-electric power, agriculture, bio-diversity conservation, reduced flood damage erosion, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco-tourism. Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will serve as the coordinating point. The Committee will submit its report, including Plan of Action, by June, 2018.

During the review of the flood situation with the Chief Ministers of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister had announced constitution of a High-Level Committee for holistic management of water resources in the NER.  The meeting noted that the optimum management of water resources is a cross-cutting task which requires multi-sectoral interventions and concerted strategy, including management of catchment areas in upper reaches involving concerned Central Ministries and State Governments.

The Brahmaputra and Barak river systems which account for one-third of India’s run off, are highly prone to floods.  Brahmaputra is one of the largest river systems in the world and causes considerable distress and costs on the region through frequent flooding and erosion.

The terms of reference of the Committee include:

  1. Appraisal of existing mechanism/institutional arrangements for management of water resources of the North Eastern Region.
  2. Identification of gaps in the existing mechanism/institutional arrangements for optimal management of water resources of the NER.
  3. Suggest policy interventions required for optimally harnessing the water resources for accelerating development in the NER
  4. Spelling out of actionable measures required for optimizing the management of water resources in the North-East.
  5. Chalking out a Plan of Action for dovetailing of the schemes/programmes of concerned Union Ministries, their attached offices and autonomous bodies as well as the schemes of the respective North-Eastern State Governments.

The Committee includes Secretaries from the Ministries of Development of North Eastern Region, Department of Border Management, Department of Space, Power, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and National Disaster Management Authority  and Chief Secretaries of all the 8 states in NER as Members. The Committee may co-opt or invite as special invitees Secretaries of other Ministries / Departments as well as experts who have domain knowledge in the matter.