As per the information received from infrastructure-related Ministries, major infrastructure projects taken up in the North-Eastern Region inter alia include Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER) at an estimated cost of Rs.5336.18 crore; Broad Gauging & Capital Connectivity Rail Projects; Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening of Transmission & Distribution Systems (CSST&DS) in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs.4754.42 crore; Bharatmala Pariyojana; North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) etc. Under Bharatmala Pariyojana, road 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 Corridor in North East. To augment railway network, 7 railway projects consisting of 3 new lines and 4 doublings have been taken up during last three years and current year which are at various stages of execution. For providing cross-border rail linkage, foundation stone for Agartala-Akhaura Rail-Link was laid in July, 2016 which will connect the existing Agartala station in Tripura to Akhaura Station of Bangladesh Railways. The cost of Indian portion of the project is Rs.580 crore, which is being borne by Ministry of DoNER while the Bangladesh portion is being funded by Ministry of External Affairs as grant assistance.
19 new waterways (11 in Assam, 5 in Meghalaya, 1 each in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram & Nagaland) have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) North East. Moreover, 100% subsidy is being provided by Ministry of Shipping under Central Sector Scheme for development of IWT infrastructure in North Eastern States.
In order to augment tele-connectivity, BharatNet is being implemented to create network infrastructure for providing Broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2,50,000) in the country including Gram Panchayats (GPs) of North Eastern Region. Under Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for NER, an agreement has been signed with BSNL to install 2817 mobile towers for providing mobile coverage in 4119 uncovered villages of Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam with an estimated cost of Rs.2258 crore. Further, Cabinet has approved revised proposal for provision of mobile services on 2G+4G technology for installation of 2173 mobile towers in 2374 uncovered villages and along National Highways for an estimated cost of Rs.3911 crore.
A New Greenfield Airport has been constructed at Pakyong (Gangtok) at a revised cost of Rs.553 crore suitable for operation of ATR-72 type of aircraft with Apron, terminal building of 100 pax. Moreover, Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS-UDAN) has been launched to provide connectivity to unserved and under-served airports and promote regional connectivity by making the airfare affordable through Viability Gap Funding (VGF).
Implementation/progress of infrastructure projects are monitored/reviewed periodically by the concerned administrative Ministries at appropriate level. In addition, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, being the nodal Ministry for North East, coordinates with various Central Ministries/Departments in respect of the development and welfare schemes/programmes, implemented by them in the North Eastern Region. Inter-Ministerial Committees (IMCs) have also been constituted for effective implementation and time-bound completion of major infrastructure projects.
Completion of infrastructure projects depends on many factors including land acquisition, forest and environmental clearances, reduced working season etc. In addition, inadequate number of offers in the bidding process in some cases also leads to delay in implementation.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
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BB/NK/PK/KGS/SS/177