Rs 13,000 crore investment for development and transformation of Northeast!

Representative Image  |  Photo Credit: Getty Images

New Delhi: Good news for the northeast Indian population! The government of Japan has decided to invest an amount of 205.784 billion Yen which is equivalent to approximately Rs 13,000 crore, in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of North- Eastern region. This was disclosed after a meeting which the DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh had with the Japanese delegation led by Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu, recently.

According to the government release, some of the important projects in which Japan will collaborate include Guwahati water supply project and Guwahati sewage project in Assam, Northeast road network connectivity improvement Project spread over Assam and Meghalaya.

Some other projects include Northeast network connectivity improvement project in Meghalaya, biodiversity conservation and forest management project in Sikkim, sustainable forest management project in Tripura, technical cooperation project for sustainable agriculture and irrigation in Mizoram, forest management project in Nagaland, etc.

Jitendra Singh appreciated the Japanese contribution to the development and transformation of the North-Eastern region in the last three to four years. He said, in the times to come, new areas of collaboration will also be sought to be worked out, which could possibly include Bamboo-related collaboration.

It may be noted that Jitendra Singh chaired a review meeting with the officials of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and North Eastern Council (NEC), earlier this year. The officials briefed the minister about the progress made on the ongoing projects in the North Eastern region of India. He was also briefed about the upcoming initiatives and projects to be implemented in the region.

During the meeting, he was informed that an amount of Rs 11 crore has been released for the construction of JNU hostel for northeastern students in Delhi. The tendering by CPWD is in process. This is the first of its kind hostel in JNU. The four-storey hostel will be built in approximately one and a half acre area. The construction work will start in the coming weeks. In addition to the hostel, the land acquisition process has started for the Rohini hostel for Northeastern students studying in colleges and institutions related to Delhi University and Rs 2.5 crore has been released to DDA. The hostel will be built in an area of about 5 acres.

In the meeting, Jitendra Singh said that the development of northeastern region has been the priority for the government under the leadership of Narendra Modi and that the government will make all efforts for the implementation of ongoing development projects in North East and will take measures to introduce new projects for the benefit of people of North East.