Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday said several road and transport infrastructure development projects have been taken up by the concerned Ministries and Departments of the Central government in North Eastern Region (NER).

The Minister said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha in response to a question on the progress of road and transport infrastructure projects in the NER.

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Giving details of the projects including road connectivity, he said, “Government has taken the specific initiative for improvement of connectivity within the region by programs such as SARDP-NE, Bharatmala-I, etc. and with the rest of India through the East-West Corridor program. During 2024-25 till May, 2024, a total of 78 km of National Highway road were constructed in NE states.”

On air connectivity in the region, the Minister said, “The number of airports has increased to 17 by 2023 as compared to nine in 2013. The traffic movement has also increased by 113 per cent in the last 10 years. Under the UDAN scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, 194 valid fixed wing and helicopter routes are awarded in North Eastern states, which will help in attracting tourists, investors and add to ease of doing business.”

On waterway connectivity, Majumdar said, “Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), under its Sagarmala program, has taken up projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore for the development of North-East states. Total of 20 waterways are operating in NER, adding 19 in the last 10 years.”

He said the development of six ferry terminals at Kurua, Bahari, Dhubri, Guijan, Ghagor and Matmora in Assam worth Rs 310 crore will cater to the transportation needs of commuters, which will ease the current bottlenecks of transportation.

Besides that, Majumdar said the DoNER Ministry is implementing various schemes/packages like North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme-Roads (NESIDS-Road), Special Packages of Assam [Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC) and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC)], and Schemes of NEC (North Eastern Council), for the development of the region under which projects of road and transport are sanctioned.

He added under these developmental schemes/packages since inception, 1,980 projects worth Rs 23,240.78 crore, including connectivity projects, have been sanctioned.