Lok Sabha Question No. 3878 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Connectivity with the Main Land
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3878

To be answered on

## Wednesday, July 17, 2019/Ashadha 26, 1941 (Saka)

## QUESTION

## Connectivity with the Main Land

3878.  SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased to state: (a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  many  North-Eastern  States  are  not connected with the main land; (b) if  so,  the  development works  relating to road, railways and airways carried out during the last four years, State-wise; (c) whether any special scheme for attracting tourists to visit North-Eastern States has been introduced during the last four years; (d) if so, the details thereof; and (e) the  other  major  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  development  of  North-

- Eastern States during the last four years?

## ANSWER 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 (RCSUDAN)  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 NLCPRState,  North  East  Road  Sector  Development  Scheme  (NERSDS),  Schemes  of  North Eastern  Council  (NEC)  and  North  East  Special  Infrastructure  Development  Scheme (NESIDS).

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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

| Name of State     | Rail Link            |
|-------------------|----------------------|
| Arunachal Pradesh | Balipara-Bhalukpong  |
| Assam             | Rangiya-Murkongselek |
| Assam             | Lumding-Silchar      |
| Tripura           | Kumaraghat-Agartala  |
| Manipur           | Arunachal-Jiribam    |
| Mizoram           | Kathakal-Bhairabi    |