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Rs. 17,000-crore plan to link all North-East capitals by rail

NEW DELHI: Seeking to reach out to the people of the North-East, the Centre on Wednesday announced a Rs. 17,000-crore mega initiative to link all State capitals in the region by rail.

Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) B.K. Handique said the Railway Ministry would implement the project. “The Railways have told us that the project will be completed by 2016, provided the State governments ensure early handing over of land,” he told journalists here.

The project was proposed in the Vision Document 2020, a blueprint for overall development of the region, released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008. Now, the rail network is available in the entire Assam and some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Identifying lack of a proper transportation network as the main bottleneck to development in the region, Mr Handique said the DoNER Ministry was ready to provide subsidy to any private airline if it started an exclusive intra-State operation. “We are even ready to provide subsidy for offering intra-State air connectivity in the region. Although all the States have air link with major cities in the country, the network among the States was not satisfactory.”

Rs. 700-crore annual plan for NEC

A meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC), attended by Chief Ministers and Governors of the North-Eastern States, had sanctioned a Rs. 700-crore annual plan for the body, he said.

At the 59th meeting of the regional planning body held on Tuesday, representatives of several Union Ministries explained the practical problems they faced in implementing various projects.

Mr. Handique said representatives of the Telecom Ministry assured the Council that they would soon improve the services in the region. His Ministry had sanctioned Rs. 703 crore to the North-Eastern States since February this year to improve the road network.

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