Lok Sabha Question No. 2762 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-10
Subject: Projects for North Eastern Region
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: Kripanath Mallah

Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2762

To be answered on Wednesday, July 10, 2019/Ashadha 19, 1941 (Saka)

## QUESTION Projects for North Eastern Region

2762. SHRI KRIPANATH MALLAH:

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  projects  and  the  fund  allocation  for  each  project  for  the development of infrastructure in North East States including Assam; and
- (b) the projects pending for approval in respect of infrastructure development of the State?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) For  the  development  of  infrastructure  in  North  Eastern  States,  several infrastructure projects have been taken up in the North Eastern Region which include projects  of  road  and  rail  connectivity,  modernisation  and  development  of  airports, development of Inland Waterways, Telecom, Power Sector etc. For improvement of connectivity  and  road  infrastructure  in  the  North  Eastern  Region,  under  Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) a length of 6418 km has been approved out of which, about 5273 km road has been sanctioned for execution at an estimated cost of Rs.57,518 crore. Out of sanctioned 5273 km a length of 3029 km (as on 31.3.2019) has been completed against total expenditure of Rs.30,315  crore.  In rail  sector,  projects  such  as  Jiribam-Imphal,  Dimapur (Dhansiri) -Zubza (Kohima), Agartala-Sabroom, Teteliya-Byrnihat, ByrnihatShillong,  Bhairabi-Sairang,  Murokongselek-Pasighat,  Agartala  (India)  -  Akhaura (Bangladesh) etc. have been taken up for development  of rail connectivity infrastructure in North Eastern Region. Funds allocated and spent for projects of new lines, gauge conversion and doubling in NER during the last 5 years are as under:

(Rs. in crore)

| Sl. No.   | Financial Year   |   Funds allocated |   Funds spent |
|-----------|------------------|-------------------|---------------|
| 1.        | 2014-15          |           5147.52 |       2664.01 |
| 2.        | 2015-16          |           5551.95 |       3385.71 |
| 3.        | 2016-17          |           6006.89 |       5147.57 |
| 4.        | 2017-18          |           4006.84 |       5398.12 |
| 5.        | 2018-19          |           4970.97 |       5989.96 |
| Total     | Total            |          25684.2  |      22585.4  |

In  respect  of  Air  connectivity,  projects  have  been  taken  up  for  modernization  and development  of  Airports  at  Guwahati,  Imphal,  Agartala,  Dibrugarh,Dimapur,  Tezu etc.  A  Greenfield  airport  at  Hollongi  (Itanagar)  has  also  been  sanctioned  at  an estimated  cost  of  Rs.645.63  crore.  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 Eastern  Region.  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  order  to  augment  tele-connectivity,  Bharat  Net  project  is  being  implemented  to connect all the 11,956 Gram Panchayats (5860 in phase-I and 6096 in phase-II) at a cost  of  Rs.644.55  crore  in  the  North  Eastern  Region,  for  providing  broadband connectivity in the Gram Panchayats in a phased manner. Comprehensive Telecom Development Project (CTDP) for the North-Eastern Region at an estimated cost of Rs.5336.18  crore  is  being  implemented  to  install  6673  mobile  towers  for  8621 identified uncovered villages, 321 mobile towers for National  Highways  and strengthening of transmission network in the NER.

In  the  power  sector,  projects  for  augmenting  transmission  and  distribution  system have been taken up under Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening of Transmission and Distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim (CSST&DS) at an estimated cost of Rs.4754.42 crore and North Eastern Region Power System Improvement  Project  (NERPSIP)  for  the  States  of  Meghalaya,  Mizoram,  Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam at an estimated cost of Rs.5111.33 crore.

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),  North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC).

- (b) As per available information in this Ministry, no such data is available.

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