A Chinese delegation would visit Assam and Tripura next month to study the possible investment sectors in the resource-rich northeast India, Tripura Health and Family Welfare Minister Sudip Roy Barman said on Saturday.
Roy Barman, who as member of the Indian delegation visited China earlier this week, said : “A Chinese delegation would visit Assam and Tripura in September to study the probable investment sectors in the northeastern region and the region’s available resources. After visiting Assam, the delegation would visit Tripura.”
The Chinese official delegation, he said, would talk to top officials, traders, investors and experts of the northeastern region comprising eight states in Guwahati, the Minister, who returned here on Friday, told IANS.
An Indian delegation led by Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Ram Madhav on a visit to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou since August 11 met Indian and Chinese officials and businessmen from different parts of the country.
Senior Ministers from Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat — the states governed by the BJP — were the part of the 10-member delegation, which was jointly supported by the Union Ministry of Industries and Commerce and India Foundation, a NGO runs by Ram Madhav.
Roy Barman, who also holds the Information Technology, Science, Technology and Environment Departments, said that the Indian delegation first visited a waste management plant in Guangzhou that generate power from garbage and waste materials in a very eco-friendly process.
“We have apprised the Chinese officials, investors and businessmen about the variety of enormous resources, both forest and mining, available in the northeastern region.
Surface connectivity, including railways, has developed to a large extent in the northeast region and transportation now become easier between the region and the rest of the country via Bangladesh, he added.
The minister said after the completion of the under construction bridge over river Feni (135 km south of Agartala) in southern Tripura, the region would be directly connected with the Chittagong international sea port in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Chittagong sea port, only international port nearest to northeast India, is 72 km from southern Tripura’s border town Sabroom.
“The Feni bridge would turn Tripura into a abusiness hub’ for all the northeastern states,” the Minister said, adding the state government has also invited investors to set up rubber based industries as Tripura is the second largest rubber growing state after Kerala.
Northeast India’s only 250 km out of 5,687 km outer perimeter touches India. The remaining 5437 km represents international boundaries with China (1300), Myanmar (1643 km), Bangladesh (1880 km), Bhutan (516 km) and Nepal (98 km).