Lok Sabha Question No. 1337 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-25
Subject: Projects for Connectivity and Development in NE States
Ministry: DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
Asked by: Raju Bista

## Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.1337

To be answered on

Monday, July 25, 2022/Sravana 3, 1944(Saka)

## QUESTION

## Projects for Connectivity and Development in NE States

1337.     SHRI RAJU BISTA:

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

- (a) whether the Government has any detailed statistics as to the number of projects undertaken during  the  period  from  2004  to  2013  for  connectivity  and  development  of North Eastern (NE) States;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, Year-wise; and
- (c) the present status of projects, State/Project-wise?

## ANSWER

## The Minister of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region [Shri G. Kishan Reddy]

- (a)  to  (c)  Several  infrastructure  development  projects  including  connectivity  projects have  been  taken  up  by  the  concerned  Ministries  and  Departments  of  the  Central Government  in  the  North  Eastern  Region  (NER).  These  relate  to  improving  rail connectivity, road connectivity, waterway connectivity, power connectivity and telecom connectivity in the NER. These inter-alia include:
- i. Rail  connectivity :  As  on  01.04.2022, 19 projects costing Rs.77,930 crore for 1,909 km length falling fully/ partly in North Eastern Region including those sanctioned during the period from 2004 to 2013 (except Agartala-Sabroom new line project and LumdingHojai Doubling project) are under different stages of planning/ approval/ execution, out of which 409 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.30,312 crore

incurred upto March, 2022. These include (i) 14 New Line Projects covering a length of 1,181  km  at  a  cost  of  Rs.61,520  crore,  out  of  which  361  km  length  has  been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.27,458 crore incurred upto March, 2022; and (ii) 5 Doubling/ Multitracking Projects covering a length of 728 km at a cost of Rs.16,410 crore,  out  of  which  48  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of Rs.2,854 crore incurred upto March, 2022. Agartala-Sabroom new line project (112 km) was  sanctioned  in  2008-09  and  commissioned  in  2019-20.  Lumding-Hojai  Doubling project (45 km) was sanctioned in 2012-13 and commissioned in 2019-20.

ii. Road Connectivity : During the period from 2004 to 2013, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has undertaken 394 projects of total road length 5595.14 km costing Rs. 23038.58 crore  for  connectivity  and  development  in  the  North  Eastern  States.  Out  of which, 337 projects of total road length 4232.55 km costing Rs. 13154.86 crore have been completed, and 57 projects of total road length 1362.60 km costing Rs. 10073.64 crore are ongoing.

iii. Waterway  connectivity :  National  Waterway-2  (NW-2)  (river  Brahmaputra)  was declared in 1988 from Dhubri to Sadiya in the State of Assam for a length of 891 km and was developed and maintained with terminal facilities, fairway and navigation aids. To  maintain  waterway  connectivity  between  NW-1  &  NW-2  in  North  Eastern  Region, maintenance  of  Indo-Bangladesh  Protocol  (IBP)  Route  was  continued  which  existed since  1972,  under  which  inland  vessels  of  one  country  can  transit  through  the  other country.  During  the  period  2004-2013,  03  projects  on  Brahmaputra  River  (NW-2)  in Assam  and  02  projects  of  Indo-Bangladesh  Protocol  on  Transit  and  Trade  were undertaken for connectivity to North Eastern Region iv. Power  connectivity :  Ministry  of  Power  had  undertaken  Inter-State  Transmission System (ISTS) projects  through  Regulated Tariff  Mechanism  (RTM)  and  Tariff  Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) mode in the North Eastern States. During the period from 2004-2013, 03 projects costing Rs.11178.26 crore were undertaken by POWERGRIDE under RTM in NER and 01 project under scheme for enabling import of NER/ER surplus by NR through TBCB mode.

v. Telecom  connectivity :  BharatNet  project  (earlier  known  as  National  Optical  Fiber

Network) was initially approved by the Union Cabinet on 25.10.2011. BharatNet project is  implemented  in  a  phased  manner  to  provide  broadband  connectivity  through  an optimal  mix  of  media  (Optical  Fibre  Cable  /Radio/Satellite)  to  all  Gram  Panchayats (GPs)  of  the  country,  including  NER.  As  on  04.07.2022,  total  5804  GPs  have  been made Service Ready in NER States.

For  providing  broadband  connectivity  to  Rural  &  Remote  areas,  Universal  Service Obligation Fund (USOF) signed an agreement with BSNL on January 20, 2009. Under this scheme, as of 31 st  January 2015, a total of 15,313 broadband connections and 270 kiosks were set up in NER.

A scheme has been launched by USO Fund to provide subsidy support for setting up and managing infrastructure sites/ towers spread for provision of mobile services in the specified rural and remote areas, where there was no existing fixed wireless or mobile coverage. Under this scheme, as on 30 th  November, 2013, 542 towers were set up, and 963 BTSs were commissioned in NER.

Agreements  were  signed  with  BSNL  in  the  year  2003  for  replacement  of  VPTs  with reliable technologies, which were earlier working on Multi Access Radio Relay (MARR) technology and installed before 01.04.2002. Under this scheme, as on 30 th  June 2012, total 12576 MARR VPTs were replaced, in NER. All the remaining inhabited villages as on  01.10.2007  as  per  Census  2001  have  been  included  for  provision  of  VPTs  with subsidy  support  from  USO  Fund  under  this scheme.  Agreements  in  this  regard  were signed  with  BSNL  on  27.02.2009.  Under  this  scheme,  as  on  30 th   March,  2015,  total 38,220 VPTs were replaced  in NER.

2. In  addition,  Ministry  of  Development  of  North  Eastern  Region  (MDoNER) implemented various schemes/packages viz. Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) Scheme, Special Packages of Assam for Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Schemes  of  North  Eastern  Council  (NEC),  for  the  development  of  North  Eastern Region. Under these developmental schemes/packages, 1689 projects worth Rs.17,748.54 crore, including connectivity projects, were sanctioned during the financial years  2004-05  to  2013-14.  The  year-wise  details  of  the  projects  sanctioned  are  as under:

| (Rs. in crore)   | (Rs. in crore)   | (Rs. in crore)                           | (Rs. in crore)   |
|------------------|------------------|------------------------------------------|------------------|
| S. No.           | Financial Year   | Projects sanctioned under MDoNER and NEC | schemes of       |
|                  |                  | No.                                      | Cost             |
| 1.               | 2004-05          | 157                                      | 1,815.42         |
| 2.               | 2005-06          | 184                                      | 1,704.46         |
| 3.               | 2006-07          | 158                                      | 1,682.98         |
| 4.               | 2007-08          | 116                                      | 926.39           |
| 5.               | 2008-09          | 111                                      | 1,125.12         |
| 6.               | 2009-10          | 189                                      | 1,717.62         |
| 7.               | 2010-11          | 222                                      | 2,937.24         |
| 8.               | 2011-12          | 187                                      | 1,558.67         |
| 9.               | 2012-13          | 174                                      | 2,211.34         |
| 10.              | 2013-14          | 191                                      | 2,069.3          |
|                  | Total            | 1,689                                    | 17,748.54        |

The State-wise status of the projects sanctioned under the Schemes of MDoNER and NEC during the financial years 2004-05 to 2013-14 is as under:

| (Rs. in crore)   | (Rs. in crore)    | (Rs. in crore)      | (Rs. in crore)      | (Rs. in crore)     | (Rs. in crore)     | (Rs. in crore)   | (Rs. in crore)   |
|------------------|-------------------|---------------------|---------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------------------|------------------|
| S. No.           | State             | Projects Sanctioned | Projects Sanctioned | Projects Completed | Projects Completed | Projects ongoing | Projects ongoing |
|                  |                   | No.                 | Cost                | No.                | Cost               | No.              | Cost             |
| 1                | Arunachal Pradesh | 236                 | 2,909.05            | 191                | 2,171.46           | 45               | 737.59           |
| 2                | Assam             | 483                 | 4,673.63            | 306                | 2,713.55           | 177              | 1,960.08         |
| 3                | Manipur           | 190                 | 1,508.49            | 166                | 1,249.21           | 24               | 259.28           |
| 4                | Meghalaya         | 156                 | 1,701.25            | 125                | 1,250.44           | 31               | 450.81           |
| 5                | Mizoram           | 148                 | 1,555.3             | 141                | 1,130.05           | 7                | 425.25           |
| 6                | Nagaland          | 182                 | 2,034.57            | 150                | 1,508.38           | 32               | 526.19           |
| 7                | Sikkim            | 147                 | 1,334.43            | 137                | 1,233.5            | 10               | 100.93           |
| 8                | Tripura           | 126                 | 1,687.24            | 104                | 1,174.58           | 22               | 512.66           |
| 9                | Other Agency*     | 21                  | 344.58              | 13                 | 332.32             | 8                | 12.26            |
|                  | Total             | 1,689               | 17,748.54           | 1,333              | 12,763.49          | 356              | 4,985.05         |

*Projects sanctioned to different agencies for various sectors under Schemes of NEC for all the North Eastern States.

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