Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Culture and Tourism was on a two-day official visit to Meghalaya and Assam. As a part of the Assam leg of his visit, the Union Minister attended and addressed the Business Summit on the ‘National Mission on Edible Oils- Oil Palm Business Summit for NE States (NMEO-OP)’ in Guwahati, Assam. The Union Minister of Agriculture Farmers and Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State DoNER Shri B.L Verma, Minister of State Ms.ShobhaKarandlaje, Minister of State Shri Kailash Choudhary, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Shri Pema Khandu were also present.

Addressing the Business Summit, the Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said, “The initiatives of the NMEO-OP in the North East states will immensely benefit the oil palm farmers, increase capital investment, create employment generation and shall reduce import dependencies”. “The two recent cabinet decisions, the National Mission on edible oils for oil palm and the revival of the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) undertaken by the Narendra Modi Government will provide a major boost to the agriculture sector of the North Eastern Region”.

During the Business Summit, a Memorandum of Understanding for the Bamboo FPO Agreement on Edible Oils- Oil Palm for North Eastern States was also signed.  Reddy emphasised on the efforts of the Central Government and said, “The Government will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the brothers and sisters of the Northeastern region and this summit is another pro-farmer step taken by the Narendra Modi Government”. “The aim of the mission on edible oils is to increase the cultivation of oil palm from 3.5 lakh hectare to 10 lakh hectare across India in the next 5 yeras. 50% of the new cultivation is targeted for the North East region. Out of the estimated cost of the scheme of Rs 11,040 crores, about Rs 6,000 crores will directly benefit the farmers of the northeastern states”.

The Union Minister urged all the investors and the stakeholders to come to North East and invest. He said, “Your investments in the North East will pay rich dividends and I assure you all that under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi ji, all the investor community will get full support”. Hence we must come together forward in the North East which is a land of immense opportunities and potential and create employment opportunities for the youth”.

Shri G Kishan Reddy along with Union Minister for Agriculture Shri Narendra Tomar visited an exhibition at the National Mission on edible Oils business summit. The exhibition showcased an intriguing & wide range of vegetation from across the North East Region. The exhibition at the business summit highlighted the importance of Oil Palm and is a step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat and AatmanirbharNorthEast.

MG/RNM                                                     *******************