For the development of infrastructure in North Eastern States, several infrastructure projects have been taken up in the North Eastern Region which include projects of road and rail connectivity, modernisation and development of airports, development of Inland Waterways, Telecom, Power Sector etc. For improvement of connectivity and road infrastructure in the North Eastern Region, under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) a length of 6418 km has been approved out of which, about 5273 km road has been sanctioned for execution at an estimated cost of Rs.57,518 crore. Out of sanctioned 5273 km a length of 3029 km (as on 31.3.2019) has been completed against total expenditure of Rs.30,315 crore. In rail sector, projects such as Jiribam-Imphal, Dimapur (Dhansiri) – Zubza (Kohima), Agartala-Sabroom, Teteliya-Byrnihat, Byrnihat-Shillong, Bhairabi-Sairang, Murokongselek-Pasighat, Agartala (India) – Akhaura (Bangladesh) etc. have been taken up for development of rail connectivity infrastructure in North Eastern Region. Funds allocated and spent for projects of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling in NER during the last 5 years are as under:
(Rs. in crore)
| Sl. No. | Financial Year | Funds allocated | Funds spent |
|
|
2014-15 | 5147.52 | 2664.01 |
|
|
2015-16 | 5551.95 | 3385.71 |
|
|
2016-17 | 6006.89 | 5147.57 |
|
|
2017-18 | 4006.84 | 5398.12 |
|
|
2018-19 | 4970.97 | 5989.96 |
| Total | 25684.17 | 22585.37 | |
In respect of Air connectivity, projects have been taken up for modernization and development of Airports at Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, Dibrugarh,Dimapur, Tezu etc. 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.
19 new waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) in the North Eastern Region. An expenditure of Rs.270.50 crore was incurred on projects of National Waterway (NW) No. 2 (River Brahmaputra) & 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 North Eastern 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.5336.18 crore is being implemented to install 6673 mobile towers for 8621 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.4754.42 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.5111.33 crore.
In addition to above, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region 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 & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
*****
