Lok Sabha Question No. 2463 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-01
Subject: Shortage of Funds
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: THANGSO BAITE

Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA

Unstarred Question No. 2463

To be answered on

## Wednesday, August 1, 2018/Shravana 10, 1940 (Saka)

## QUESTION Shortage of Funds

2463. SHRI BAITE THANGSO: Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased to state: (a) whether  there  is  any  shortage  of  funds  for  the  development  of  communication network, road and transportation in the North Eastern Region; (b) if so, the reasons therefor and the action taken by the Government in this regard; and (c)

- the details of projects in this regard taken up in the North Eastern States during the last two years, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region [Dr. Jitendra Singh]

(a) to (c) All non-exempt Ministries/Departments, including Department of Telecommunications,  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  &  Highways,  Ministry  of  Railways, Ministry  of  Civil  Aviation,  Ministry  of  Power  and  Ministry  of  Shipping,  are  required  to earmark 10% of their schematic budget for the North Eastern Region. The Government had  enhanced  the  earmarked  outlay  for  NER  under  10%  Gross  Budgetary  Support (GBS), from Rs.31738.58 crore (RE) in 2016-17 to Rs.40971.69 crore (RE) in 2017-18. This has been further increased to Rs.47994.88 crore (BE) in 2018-19. Some  of  the  major  infrastructure  projects, inter  alia , include  Comprehensive Telecom  Development  Plan  (CTDP)  for  the  North  Eastern  Region  (NER)  at  an estimated cost of Rs.5336.18 crore under which USOF has signed an agreement with BSNL to install 2817  mobile towers  for  providing  mobile coverage in  4119 uncovered villages  of  Arunachal  Pradesh  and  two  districts  of  Assam  at  an  estimated  cost  of Rs.2258  crore;  Broad  Gauging  &  Capital  Connectivity  Rail  Projects;  Comprehensive Scheme  for  Strengthening  of  Transmission  &  Distribution  Systems  (CSST&DS)  in

Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs.4754.42 crore; Bharatmala

Pariyojana; North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) etc.

Under Bharatmala Pariyojana, road 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  Corridor  in  North  East.  To  augment  railway network, 5 railway projects consisting of 3 new lines and 2 doublings have been taken up during last two years which are at various stages of execution. For providing crossborder  rail  linkage,  foundation  stone  for  Agartala-Akhaura  Rail-Link  was  laid  in  July, 2016 which will connect the existing Agartala  station in  Tripura to Akhaura  Station of Bangladesh Railways. The cost of Indian portion of the project is Rs.580 crore, which is being  borne  by  Ministry  of  DoNER  while  the  Bangladesh  portion  is  being  funded  by Ministry of External Affairs as grant assistance.

19 new waterways (11 in Assam, 5 in Meghalaya, 1 each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Nagaland) have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) in North East. Moreover, 100% subsidy is being provided by Ministry of Shipping under Central Sector Scheme for development of IWT infrastructure in North Eastern States.

A  new  Greenfield  Airport  has  been  constructed  at  Pakyong  (Gangtok)  at  a revised  cost  of  Rs.553  crore,  suitable  for  operation  of  ATR-72  type  of  aircraft  with Apron, terminal  building  of  100  pax.  Moreover,  Regional  Connectivity  Scheme  (RCSUDAN)  has  been  launched  to  provide  connectivity  to  unserved  and  under-served airports  and  promote  regional  connectivity  by  making  the  airfare  affordable  through Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

In addition to the efforts made by infrastructure Ministries/Departments, Ministry of  Development  of  North  Eastern  Region  (DoNER)  through  its  schemes  of  NonLapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR)-State, North Eastern Council and North East  Road  Sector  Development  Scheme  (NERSDS),  have  taken  steps  to  bridge infrastructure gaps in North Eastern Region. The State-wise details of the projects taken up  during  the  last  two  years  under  NLCPR-State  Scheme  and  NEC  are annexed . Under  NERSDS,  upgradation/rehabilitation  of  3  nos.  of  Inter-State  roads  has  been taken  up  during  last  2  years  in  NER.  Recently, a  100%  Centrally  funded  North  East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) has been approved for implementation by the Ministry  of DoNER to meet the gaps for development of basic infrastructure in identified sectors.

*****

Annexure

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.2463 for answer on 01.08.2018

Details of projects taken up in North Eastern States by Ministry of DoNER under NLCPR during the last two years, State-wise

|   Sl. No. | State             | Name of the Project                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | C/o road from Nakhu to Sanchipan under Nafra circle, West Kameng district                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | C/o road from ParsiParlo to Pipsorang Circle HQ in KraDaadi district                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | C/o RCC bridge over river Dirang to connect Dirang HQ to Dirang township i/c approach road                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | Construction of road from BRTF Road to Essi Yase Village under Tirbin in West Siang District.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | Construction of road from Geku to Mariyang in Upper Siang District                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | Construction of 6 nos. bridges to provide connectivity to Admn. CO HQ, Palling with District HQ in Upper Siang District                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of Digheeripar Bardoulguri Barachuba road from Ch. 0.00Km to Ch. 4.120Km and from Ch. 4.560Km to Ch. 10.100 Km (Length9.660Km) including Cross Drainage Works in Darrang District                                                                                                                                             |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of Two Lane RoB in between Barpeta Railway Station and Surupeta Railway Station replacing L.C gate No. SK- 37 at Barpeta District                                                                                                                                                                                             |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of Road from NH-31 to KahimpurSuplekuchi via Purbaharati                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|         2 | Assam             | Improvement of Udalguri Sapekhaity Bhakatpara Road in Udalguri Rural Road Division                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of RCC Bridge No. 9/1 on MancottaKhamtighat road along with approaches and Protection work and strengthening of damaged road pavement from ch. 8308.00m to ch. 32600.00m via Saraighat Bridge up to Bamunbari Tiniali connecting Moran Naharkatia road (Sh-27) under PWD, Dibrugarh Rural Road Division in Dibrugarh District |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of Alternative Road to Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati in Kamrup (Metro) District (Phase-1 restricted to Hill Cutting and retaining wall)                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|         2 | Assam             | Construction of Road from Subhaijhar to Uttar Ballamguri via Kumarshali at Bijni in Chirang District                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|         3 | Manipur           | Improvement of Koirengei- Sekmai Road i/c bridge approach from Sangakpham to Salanthong                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|         4 | Meghalaya         | Construction of major bridge over River Daru on Jholgaon-Katuli                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|         4 | Meghalaya         | Construction including M&BT of Intermediate lane on RongjengMangsangAdokgre Road from 0.00 Km to 32.00 Km. including 90.00 mbridge over lldek river at 44th Km                                                                                                                                                                             |
|         4 | Meghalaya         | Construction of Road from Rongsanga Bagre to Bandalkona                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |

|    |          | connection Betasing-Mellim Road with bridges                                                                                            |
|----|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  5 | Nagaland | Upgradation of road from Alongchen to Mangkolemba to via impur Mopungchuket Mongchen (ODR to MDR) - 19 Km-Phase-II                      |
|  6 | Sikkim   | Construction of 70 Mtrs Span Roruchu Steel Bridge along GRBA road in East Sikkim                                                        |
|  6 | Sikkim   | Construction of road from Latuk Thek to Rolep 5 km including 1 No. of Bridge over Rangpo Khola at Km 1st, Ch:10                         |
|  6 | Sikkim   | Construction of Bridge over Rangit River at Kitchudumra, Namchi - Sikip in South Sikkim                                                 |
|  7 | Tripura  | Improvement of Pecharthal (NH-44) Kanchanpur Road (Lenth: 26:50) Phase-II from Machmara - Kanchanpur (Length: 18 Km in Unakoti District |
|  7 | Tripura  | Improvement of Melagarh-- Sonamura Road (Length: 8.454 Km) Sipahijala District                                                          |

## Details  of  projects  taken  up  in  North  Eastern  States  by  North  Eastern  Council during the last two years, State-wise

|   Sl. No. | State             | Name of the Project                                                                           |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | Bordumsa-Borkhet (road)                                                                       |
|         1 | Arunachal Pradesh | Rural road from Nacho BRTF to koba village                                                    |
|         2 | Assam             | MajuliBongaon (DakhinpatSatra) Road in MajuliDistirct                                         |
|         3 | Manipur           | NH-150/NH-202 (New) to Chadong (near MaphouDam) via Muirei, Ngaramphung&LamlaiKhunou, Manipur |
|         3 | Manipur           | Improvement of road from Mualdak to Kolhen Diversion road via Munlui                          |
|         3 | Manipur           | Contruction of ISTT at Imphal.Sekmai (Road)                                                   |
|         3 | Manipur           | Construction of Yaripok Bazar to Chagangpat (Road)                                            |
|         3 | Manipur           | Improvement of road koirengei to Sangkpham via Achangbigei, Kontha and Ahallup village        |
|         4 | Meghalaya         | Balance Rongjeng-Mansang-Adokgre (Road)                                                       |
|         5 | Mizoram           | Construction of Approach road to PSC bridge over river Tlawang on Bairabi-Zamuang Road        |
|         7 | Sikkim            | Construction of 26 Nos. of Rural Foot bridges in Sikkim                                       |