Rs.7 lakh cr being spent in Northeast now against only 2 lakh cr since India’s independence: PM Modi

PM highlighted that the govt has gone beyond the conversion of the ‘Look East’ policy to ‘Act East’, and now its policy is ‘Act Fast for Northeast’ and ‘Act First for Northeast.’

PGurus Newsdesk

December 18, 2022

PM highlighted that the govt has gone beyond the conversion of the ‘Look East’ policy to ‘Act East’, and now its policy is ‘Act Fast for Northeast’ and ‘Act First for Northeast.’

PM Modi on Mission Northeast inaugurated various development projects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his government was investing Rs seven lakh crore to develop the infrastructure in the northeastern region even as the spending for the region was mere Rs two lakh crore since the independence of the country.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth over Rs.2,450 crore.

Addressing the golden jubilee celebration of the North East Council (NEC) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Polo Ground) in Shillong, the Prime Minister said that the borders of the northeast were not the last areas but would be the security and development gateway with trade and commerce would be undertaken with the neighboring countries. He said that a vibrant border village would be created with all facilities and connectivity in the bordering areas.

The Prime Minister said that the northeast is India’s gateway to South-East Asia and can become a center for the development of the entire region to realize this potential of the region, work was going on the projects like Indian-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and Agartala-Akhaura rail project.

Prime Minister highlighted that the government has gone beyond the conversion of the ‘Look East‘ policy to ‘Act East‘, and now its policy is ‘Act Fast for Northeast‘ and ‘Act First for Northeast‘.

Highlighting the success of peace initiatives in the region, he said that many peace agreements have been signed and a large number of insurgents join the mainstream of life, decades-old inter-state boundary problems are being resolved and there has been a marked reduction in instances of extremism.

Announcing that all kinds of requirements of the northeastern region would be fulfilled, the Prime Minister said that with the establishment of lasting peace in the region, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has been lifted from most parts of the region.

Referring to the tourism potential of the region, he said that both culture and nature of the region are attracting tourists from across the world. Noting that in the last eight years, the number of airports in the region has jumped from 9 to 16, and the number of flights has increased from about 900 before 2014 to around 1,900 now, Modi said that work was now underway to connect all the state capitals of the region by railway networks.

Saying that the length of national highways has increased by 50 percent since 2014 in the region, he said that with the launch of the PM-DevINE scheme, the infrastructure projects in the northeast have gained more momentum. He added that the government was also working on improving digital connectivity in the Northeast by increasing the optical fiber network.

Talking about the development of Aatmanirbhar’s 5G infrastructure, he said that 5G would help further the development of the startup ecosystem and service sector among others in the region. For expanding the mobile networks, 6,000 mobile towers were either installed or installed at a cost of Rs.5,000 crore.

“When the FIFA World Cup football competition is going on in Doha (Qatar), I am along with the football lovers at a football ground in Shillong,” the Prime Minister said, adding that India’s first sports university being set up in the northeast (Manpur) while works for the 90 projects are going on.

The projects include mobile towers, a new Campus of IIM Shillong at Umsawli, Shillong — Diengpasoh Highways, Spawn Laboratory at Mushroom Development Center, Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre, and 21 Hindi libraries for Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, and Assam.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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