GUWAHATI, May 29 ? Centre has decided to sanction Rs 33 crore for the North East in order to upgrade export infrastructure in the entire region. Highly placed official sources today said that the funds would be spent in the seven States of the region to upgrade the existing infrastructure and the border trade points. It may be recalled that the Centre has sanctioned over Rs 300 crore for upgrading infrastructure, of which 10 per cent will be spent specially in the North East with an eye to give a boost to exports with the neighbouring countries.
The sources further said that in spite of having vast potential, the export growth rate in the region has gone down due to poor infrastructure and lack of motivation of the concerned State Governments. ?The funds have been sanctioned to improve the present infrastructure,? they said. They further revealed that the Union Commerce Ministry also asked the State Government to constitute special committees headed by chief secretaries to identify the areas and encourage the young entrepreneurs for export and import. ?The committees will allocate the funds for the new projects,? the sources added.
On poor growth of export in the region despite vast resources, the sources stated that the State governments should play more proactive role in promotion of export in the region. ?Though import from Myanmar and Bangladesh have increased, the export has suffered a serious setback in the region,? they said, adding that in order to increase the export, the State governments should develop the trade points in the region. Mentionably, there are as many as 32 border trade points in the North East of which 14 are functioning normally.