Lok Sabha Question No. 2470 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-26
Subject: Major Projects in North East
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI

Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA

Unstarred Question No. 2470

To be answered on

Wednesday, December 26, 2018/Pausha 5, 1940 (Saka)

## QUESTION

## Major Projects in North East

2470.  SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of infrastructure related major projects started by the Government in various States of the North-Eastern Region during the last three years; (b) the  details  of  funds  allocated/spent  and  the  present  status  of  these  projects, State/project-wise; (c) whether the Government has any mechanism to monitor implementation of these projects and if so, the details thereof; and the details of the projects initiated in association with the Japanese Government
- (d) following Act East Forum started in 2017?

## ANSWER The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## [Dr. Jitendra Singh]

(a) and (b) Infrastructure projects taken up in the North Eastern Region include projects of road and rail connectivity; modernisation and development of airports; development of Inland Waterways and Power sectors.

For improvement of connectivity and road infrastructure in the North East Region, an expenditure of Rs.12639 crore has been incurred in the last three years on projects for construction/upgradation of National Highways and under Special Accelerated Road Development  Programme  for  North  East  (SARDP-NE).  Under,  the  North  East  Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS), launched by this Ministry during 2015-16 for upgrading critical interstate roads, Tura-Mankachar Road (Meghalaya-Assam) has been completed and Harmoti-Doimukh Road (Assam-Arunachal Pradesh) as well as WokhaMerapani Road (Assam-Nagaland) have been taken up.

To augment the railway network, seven railway line projects consisting of three new lines and four projects of doublings have been taken up during the last three years.

In respect of Air connectivity, projects worth more than Rs.2600 crore (approx.) have  been  taken  up  in  the  last  three  years  for  modernization  and  development  of Airports, including at Guwahati, Imphal, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Dimapur; and upgradation works  at  Tezu  Airport.  The  Greenfield  Airport  at  Pakyong  has  been  constructed  at  a cost of Rs.553.50 crore and is now operational. 19  new  waterways  have  been  declared  as  National  Waterways  (NWs)  in  the North  East.  An  expenditure  of  Rs.270.50  crore  was  incurred  on  projects  of  National Waterway (NW) No.2 (River Brahmaputra) & NW-16 (River Barak) and studies for 18 new NWs, in the last three years. In the power sector, projects for augmenting transmission and distribution system have been taken up under Comprehensive scheme for Strengthening Transmission and Distribution System  in  Arunachal  Pradesh  and  Sikkim  at  an  estimated  cost  of Rs.4754.42 crore and North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project for the States of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam at an estimated cost of Rs.5111.33 crore. (c) Implementation/progress of infrastructure projects is monitored/reviewed periodically by the concerned administrative Ministries at appropriate level. This Ministry also  coordinates  with  various  Central  Ministries/Departments  in  respect  of  major infrastructure projects undertaken by them. (d) The India-Japan Act-East Forum was constituted in 2017 to enhance connectivity and  promote  developmental  projects  in  the  North  Eastern Region  of  India  by  taking advantage  of  India-Japan  economic  and  developmental  partnership.  The  Forum  has met  twice  and  considered  a  number  of  projects  as  per  the  requirements  of  State Governments  of  the  North  East  Region  in  areas  of  connectivity;  skill  development; sustainable forest management; disaster risk reduction and promotion of bamboo use.

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