New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jyotiraditya Scindia, has underscored a unified approach to accelerate infrastructure growth in northeastern region (NER), an official statement said on Friday.
The minister outlined five suggestions for bridging infrastructure and connectivity gaps — convergence of NER Infrastructure Grid by preparing a regional Master Plan; establishment of a Monitoring Mechanism for priority projects for the NER; policy push for Multimodal logistic park by way of offering various tax and other concessions; boosting cross border connectivity to promote International trade with neighbouring countries; and enhancing digital connectivity and power transmission infrastructure.
Speaking at the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on ‘Logistics, Infrastructure Connectivity in NER,’ Scindia further added that all the infrastructure projects in the NER should be mapped on the PM GatiShakti Portal for better planning of future projects.
The minister urged all the NER states that they should update their state Logistics Policy as per the metric prepared by the Ministry based on the best practices throughout the country, preferably before the next NEC Plenary Session.
The industrial clusters may be developed in the NER along the transport corridors for rapid economic growth of the region.
The HLTF meeting focussed on critical gaps in the North Eastern Region in the sectors of Highways, Railways, Waterways, Airways, Logistics, and digital connectivity.
To bridge these gaps, the HLTF meeting decided to formulate a comprehensive Infrastructure Masterplan. The plan will be developed in consultation with all eight northeastern states and Central Ministries, ensuring a collaborative approach to regional development.
The key points of discussion during the meeting included identification of state-specific bottlenecks and challenges, critical connectivity gaps and prioritised infrastructure needs, integration of state budgets & national investments for capital formation, and implementation a road map for Viksit NER at 2047.
Earlier this year, the Centre had formed eight HLTF, each headed by one of the Chief Ministers of the NE State along, with Union Minister (MDoNER) and three chief ministers of other states as members.
–IANS
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