Government laying emphasis on improving connectivity in the Northeast: Dr Jitendra Singh

Government laying emphasis on improving connectivity in the Northeast: Dr Jitendra Singh

Dehi – The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said the Government has given a big push to a diverse range of infrastructure projects in the region.Briefing the media after releasing the Calendar for the year 2018 of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh said the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has laid emphasis on improving rail, road, air and inland waterways connectivity in the NER and with a host of power projects, the region is already on course to turning power surplus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Aizawl, Mizoram on December 16, 2017 the Centre is committed to put all the state capitals of the northeast on the rail map and is executing 15 new projects of 1,385 km length, at a cost of over Rs 47,000 crore in the region. With the dedication of the 60-MW Tuirial hydropower project at the hands of the Prime Minister, Mizoram became the third power- surplus state in the north-east after Sikkim and Tripura. The Tuirial project, which was announced and cleared in 1998 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, is the first major central project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram, the Prime Minister said.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken initiatives to strengthen regional air connectivity in the North Eastern States. A new terminal building is being constructed with an estimated expenditure of Rs 500 crore at Agartala Airport and the AAI would spend Rs 2,500 crore in North East States in next three years, AAI Chairman Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra said at Agartala on Dec.15, 2017. As many as 92 air routes connecting state capitals in the region are being planned as part of the Centre’s Udaan scheme.Reflecting the improving regional connectivity and tourism potential, over 1.6 lakh foreign and 77 lakh domestic tourists visited Assam and the other Northeastern states during 2016, registering a 5.2 per cent increase over the previous year. Last year, the region registered a significant quantum jump of more than 15.8 per cent.

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