DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EAST INDIA                                                         Nov 29, 2017   

——✽VISION for the NORTH EAST✽——

North East: better connected and trading with its neighbours
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Clear vision and effective action plans are required to sustain continuous forward momentum, meet timelines and show results.

North East forums are places where NE states exchange ideas with neighbouring countries and states. Outreach to ROI can be done through festivals, sports and other events. Private sector participation is helpful. As a result of these interactions, NE Industrial policies will be notified to address industry concerns.

After some improvements in roads and railways, digital connectivity and air connectivity now need the biggest push. Scientific interventions are required in the farm and non-farm sectors, to identify gaps and remediate them with suitable technology. Agricultural marketing needs to be overhauled to revive key sectors like tea. It is understood that any development must be done ecologically, sustainably.

The Look East policy of the center requires that the North East be made stronger and stable, so it can be a bridge to neighbouring countries. The Ministry of External Affairs is integrating NE by promoting sub-regional trade and connectivity at various India-ASEAN Connectivity and Business Summits. Manipur will become a trade hub for SE Asia. Rail connectivity to Imphal is being expedited for completion by 2019. Handicrafts and textile industries among others will benefit.

Potential exists in the North East for tourism, medical tourism, IT, handicrafts, bamboo, organic farming, cross-border regional value chain, infrastructure development etc. For the purpose of promoting such enterprises, the government has established agencies & programmes, such as:
1. North East Council to develop the tourism sector
2. North East Rural Livelihood Programme
3. SAMPADA for food processing, cold chains, storage, transport

Road, rail, waterways and pipeline connectivity is being strongly pushed
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✔️ Road and rail connectivity to bordering nations is being promoted by the Motor Vehicles Pact. Old railway lines through Bangladesh are to be opened.
✔️ Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been built. This will bring a wave of development across the Brahmaputra river.
✔️ Development of National Waterway-2 & connection to NW-1 via Bangladesh is underway. A shift of just coal, fly ash & foods to waterways shows a 35% return on economic benefit. There are 19 other unexploited waterways.
✔️ 3 airports are coming up in the NE. Air travel will be one of the main modes of connectivity.
✔️ Digital connectivity is improving like in other parts of the country.
✔️ Under-sea internet cable will connect NE from Bangladesh.
✔️ Gas and oil pipelines from Bangladesh port will feed southern NE India. Oil and gas from Assam will be sent to Bangladesh.

Development of NE can benefit the rest of India
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✔️ Tourism & hospitality sectors are being promoted. Tour operators include packages for adventure tours and holidays to destinations like Meghalaya, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
✔️ Film shooting has potential. Film and Television Institute is planned for Arunachal Pradesh.

✔️ Higher bamboo supply can meet domestic timber demand. Bamboo goods manufacturing was boosted by the Centre decision to classify bamboo as grass and not as a forest. Existing bamboo areas can now be exploited for agriculture, thus bamboo will become widely available for industry. Local processing will benefit local people.

NE is an unexplored region with much to offer in Agriculture
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✔️ Sikkim is an organic food state. Rest of the NE can be developed similarly and the region can become an export hub for organic food.
✔️ Mega Food Parks will come up in Assam, Tripura and Mizoram. Food processing and storage are profitable avenues, as 40% of fruit is wasted and there are surpluses to exploit, eg. NE produces 45% of pineapples, 4th in oranges and 1st in cardamom.
✔️ NE has many varieties of bamboo, rice, and other plants that can be used for research. Mizoram is a bio-diversity rich state worthy of exploration.

➡️ NE Road Sector Development Scheme has been introduced by the government to build road networks in neglected areas.
➡️ NE venture capital fund has been set up. It already has 65 investment proposals. Startups are encouraged by private investment.

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/northeast-holds-key-to-indias-future-growth-dr-jitendra/

——✽CONNECTIVITY in the NORTH EAST✽——

The basis for construction is widely regarded as purely for military and dam purposes. Also, the patchwork approach to roads has left gaps in infrastructure like unfinished bridges. For instance, during monsoon, people must revert to old routes, which means long diversions from E. Arunachal to the southern banks in Assam (crossing at Tezpur) before retracing north of the river.

Connectivity via bridges
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✔️ Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been built. This will bring a wave of development in upper Assam and Arunachal across Brahmaputra.
✔️ Superstructure of Bogibeel bridge will be completed when the final girdle is laid by November. Rail tracks and road connection from North and South transit points will take another 5-6 months, due to delays at some stretches.
✔️ Multiple bridges at Guwahati to decongest it and allow another Guwahati to be built on the north bank of Brahmaputra.

Air connectivity
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Air travel becomes a necessity because roads are inadequate and difficult to navigate. Due to the hilly terrain, road construction is slow and costly.
➡️ Guwahati International Airport will have direct connectivity to SE Asian countries. 300 daily flights are planned, making Assam a hub for trade in the NE.
▬ Imphal international airport missed out.
➡️ Air India will operate frequent direct flights from Imphal to New Delhi. There is interest in doing the same for other major cities in India.
➡️ Phase II of the UDAN scheme expands air connectivity. 92 routes will provide no-frills service by private carriers.
➡️ 19 upcoming (or underutilized) airports will be added to the civil network. The 1st airport of Sikkim, at Pakyong in the northernmost part of Sikkim was completed (tourism at Nathu La Pass).
➡️ 7 heliports will be opened in the region.
➡️ Helicopter dispensary/OPD service in far-flung areas of the region by 2018. Two premier medical facilities will be connected.
▬ Spicejet will employ 9-10 small seaplanes, which can land on small airstrips.

https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/highway-construction-projects-in-northeast-moving-at-snails-pace/article9944158.ece

North East: better connected and trading with its neighbours
———————————————————————————
✔️ 3 airports are coming up in NE. Air travel will be one of the main modes of connectivity
✔️ Road, rail, waterways and pipeline connectivity is being strongly pushed to neighbouring countries.
✔️ Development of NW-2 & connection to NW-1 via Bangladesh is underway. A shift of just coal, fly ash & foods to waterways shows a 35% return of economic benefit to the region. There are 19 other unexploited waterways.
✔️ Digital connectivity is coming up strongly just like other parts of the country. It will obviate remoteness and bring benefits of greater engagement. Under-sea internet cable will connect NE from Bangladesh
✔️ Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been built. This will bring a wave of development across Brahmaputra river.
✔️ Oil and gas exploration principally in Assam. Gas and oil pipelines from Bangladesh port will feed southern NE India.

➡️ Rail connectivity to NE capitals by broad gauge
➡️ Helicopter based dispensary has been set up for Imphal & Shillong, and other areas will follow
➡️ New North East Industrial Promotion Policy

Road and rail connectivity at the Tibet border
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http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/army-plans-tunnels-between-ladakh-and-arunachal-to-counter-growing-chinese-presence-along-lac/1/1090528.html

Large dam storage in Arunachal P can bring long-term prosperity
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Chinese threat to divert upto 80% of 18 BCM flow away from India has compelled experts to think of building massive storage facilities of 14BCM. This is intended to mitigate shortages during the lean season from Nov to Apr, but will have other benefits. Reservoirs will help control annual floods in Assam, as Brahmaputra becomes uncontrollably swollen in the rainy season. A 9.2 BCM storage dam will be attached to 10,000MW Upper Siang HE project. Remaining storage will cater for HE projects on rivers Lohit, Subansiri and Dibang in Arunachal Pradesh.

Central ministers have given a push to it, beware there is stiff local resistance. States have been asked to come back with compensation estimates. Tectonic sensitivity and submergance of forests must also be addressed. Centre has assured full funding including loan as it doesn’t want the project derailed by Chinese pressure on foreign investors.

➡️ Though strategic in nature and deserving of the highest priority, it is also equitable that tribal communities are personally benefited, and their way of life is not marginalized by such fast-paced developments.