The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
[Dr. Jitendra Singh]
(a) and (b) The road and rail connectivity of main land to the States in the North Eastern Region is through the Siliguri Corridor.
In the last four years under the schemes of M/o DoNER, road projects worth Rs.821.56 crore were sanctioned and under schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) Rs.1293.65 crore was released for development of infrastructure like roads and bridges, ISBT, airports, railway in North Eastern Region. Under the SARDP-NE including Arunachal Package of Roads and Highways, 1262 km of road length worth Rs.17,065 crore has been completed in the last four years in the North East Region (NER). Under Bharatmala Pariyojana (BMP) roads stretches aggregating to about 5301 km in NER have been approved for improvement. Out of this, 3246 km road length has been approved for development of Economic Corridors in the North East. Under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, road length of 20,708 km has been constructed at a cost of Rs.9033.76 crore, thereby connecting 3123 habitations in North Eastern Region.
In respect of Rail Connectivity, during the last four years the entire North East Region has been converted to the Broad Gauge (BG) network. The State wise details are at Annexure.
In respect of Air Connectivity, modernization and development of Airports have been taken up. This includes construction of a new integrated terminal building at Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala Airports; Extension of Runway at Dibrugarh Airport; Strengthening of Runway, Taxiway at Dimapur Airport; and upgradation works at Tezu Airport. The Greenfield Airport at Pakyong has been completed and is now operational. A new Greenfield Airport at Holongi (Itanagar) has also been taken up for improving connectivity in the North East region. Moreover, Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS-UDAN) has been launched to provide connectivity to unserved and underserved Airports within the country and to promote regional connectivity by making the airfare affordable through Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The North East has been kept as a priority area under RCS-UDAN.
(c) and (d) The Ministry of Tourism has identified several segments like Eco-Tourism, Rural Tourism, Medical Tourism, Wellness Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Cruise Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, Agri-Tourism, Promotion of Cuisines as having huge potential for the North East Region. The Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism is aimed at developing theme based tourist circuits in the Country, including the North East Region. Under this scheme, projects worth Rs.1315.06 crore have been sanctioned for the North East Region in the last four years and Rs.783.40 crore has been released for the same. The Ministry of Tourism also organizes the ‘International Tourism Mart’ in the North East States for promotion of the North East Region.
(e) As per the information available, major projects taken up in the North-East Region inter alia include Promotion of MSMEs in North Eastern Region and Sikkim, Comprehensive Telecom Development Project (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region, Comprehensive Scheme for strengthening of Transmission and Distribution Systems (CSST&DS), North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP), National Sports University at Imphal, Agartala-Akhaura Rail-Link to connect the existing Agartala station in Tripura to Akhaura Station of Bangladesh Railways, development of Brahmaputra and 19 new waterways including Barak.
In addition to above M/o Housing and Urban Affairs facilitates and assists 8 North Eastern States for schemes like Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM–U), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission (SCM), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) (PMAY-U) and North Eastern Region Urban Development Programme (NERDUP) and 10% Lumpsum Scheme to improve the quality of life in cities and towns covered under these Missions/Schemes.
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), Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) and North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS).
Annexure
Annexure referred to in reply parts (a) and (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3878 for answer on 17.07.2019
State wise details of conversion from MG to BG rail line in the last three years
<pre>
Name of State Rail Link
Arunachal Pradesh Balipara–Bhalukpong
Assam Rangiya-Murkongselek
Assam Lumding-Silchar
Tripura Kumaraghat-Agartala
Manipur Arunachal-Jiribam
Mizoram Kathakal–Bhairabi
</pre>
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