Development / Northeast

SHILLONG, May 22 ? With all the States in the North East in the throes of a critical power crisis, the Power Ministers of the region today expressed concern over the paradox of scarcity of power in the midst of unlimited but untapped power potential of the region. Participating in the 52nd meeting of the North Eastern Regional Electricity Board (NEREB) at Pinewood Hotel here today they urged upon the Government of India to implement the identified power projects in the region on a priority basis to reverse the trend which is adversely affecting the industrial development and economic...

Shillong, May 21: The Northeast will witness a power revolution as a number of foreign banks have agreed to fund major power projects in the region.

Revealing this to newsmen today after a meeting with a parliamentary committee on power, chairman-cum-managing director of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco) S.C. Sharma said power shortage in Assam and most northeastern states could end forever as 35,000 MW of hydro power is expected to be generated from the region.

The banks which will fund the projects include the Canadian International Development Agency, Swedish...

Guwahati, May 20: Four elephant reserves of the Northeast, including two in Assam, have caught the attention of the Nairobi-based Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), a highly-rated international agency working in the field of elephant conservation.

The four elephant reserves that have come under the organisation?s scanner are Chirang-Ripu and Dibru in Assam, Deomali in Arunachal Pradesh and the Garo Hills elephant reserve in Meghalaya. Six other elephant reserves elsewhere in the country have been included in the programme.

MIKE functions under the Convention of International Trade...

New Delhi, May 18: The Centre has revamped the procedure for allotting funds from the non-lapsable pool of resources for the eight northeastern states, including Sikkim.

Under the new mechanism, states will be required to submit a concept paper of projects to the department of development of north east region (Doner) which has the final say on sanctioning grants. The Doner will then assess the feasibility of the project according to the size of the plan and the number of people it would benefit. As per existing rules, no project of less than a crore would be okayed.

?Preparation of project...

GUWAHATI, May 17 ? The North-east, endowed with excellent varieties of ornamental fish species, has the potential to be a major player in the world trade of ornamental fish, which has crossed the one billion dollar mark in recent times. According to a preliminary survey, about 20 varieties of ornamental fish such as botia dario, channa stewartii, channa barca, hara hara, garra, etc, are exported annually from the region. However, this trade is confined mostly to the unorganised sector and the few people supplying such fish to the exporters in Kolkata and Chennai, etc, are not getting the...

GUWAHATI, May 17 ? The Central Government will consider to give more incentives to boost the tourism, healthcare and entertainment including filmmaking in the North Eastern region. It was assured by the Union Minister of State for Industries and Commerce Ch Vidya Sagar Rao who was here on a four-day visit to the region to assess the impact of North East Industrial Policy (NEIP).

Addressing a press conference here this morning, the Minister said, ?after interacting with entrepreneurs and industry representatives in the region during last few days, I am personally convinced that tourism...

GUWAHATI, May 16 ?Industries, that had committed crores of Rupees in investments in Assam, have suddenly lost interest in setting up bases here. They are, instead, directing their investments to Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, keeping an eye on the nearness of the immense north Indian market. The Centre?s dedision to extend tax concessions, similar to the ones offered to investors in the North East to states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Jammu and Kashmir, have driven prospective investors away from this remote region to the more lucrative northern states...

SHILLONG, May 15 – The Centre will ensure setting up of at least one major food processing industry in every state of the North Eastern Region, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries (MFPI) N T Shanmugan has announced. Addressing a business meet on food processing industries in North Eastern Region at Hotel Polo Towers here today, the Union Minister informed that his ministry has sanctioned five ‘Food Parks’ in the region in the states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

The Ministry has formulated a number of plan schemes to promote food processing in the country and...

SHILLONG, May 13—The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has embarked upon an ambitious plan for harnessing over 25,000 MW of hydroelectric power by setting up a number of projects in the North Eastern region by the end of the 12th Plane. NHPC chairman-cum-Managing Director Yogendra Prasad announced at a Press conference at Itanagar recently,” This will effectively make the region the powerhouse of the country and also speed up development by providing abundant and cheap power,” he said.

The region has a major share of hydro power potential to the extent of 63,257 MW out of the...

GUWAHATI, May 12 – The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) Ltd. paid a dividend of Rs 1 crore to the Union Government for the year 2001-2002. The dividend cheque was presented to Union Minister of Power Anant G Geete by NEEPCO chairman and Managing Director S C Sarma recently, said a NEEPCO press release here.

During the above year, the press release said, the NEEPCO generated 2,762.53 MU of energy with an average machine availability of 86.6 per cent. The Union Government has declared the Assam Gas-based Power Station of the Corporation as ‘Centre of excellence’ for its...