Development / Northeast

GUWAHATI, March 13— Renowned bamboo expert Dr Ding Xingcui today said China was keen to lend its technical expertise to India, especially the North-east, to help tap its immense potential in the region. “China which is in an advanced stage of bamboo production, can provide technical training to India under a Sino-India cooperation project,” Dr Xingcui who is an Associate Professor at the China National Bamboo Research Centre told The Assam Tribune. Besides, he said, the two countries can also go for joint ventures on the research and development (R&D) front for diversification of products.

Dr...

NEW DELHI, March 12 – India is pushing for opening of a second border trading point through Champai-Rih sector, even as the Government is in the process of setting up a joint trade committee chaired by the respective Ministers of Commerce to promote bilateral trade between India and Myanmar. Minister of State for External Affairs Vinod Khanna informed this in the Lok Sabha today.

Expressing India’s keen interest to widen the list of items being traded between the two countries, the minister conceded that existence of only one border trading point is a constraint. Under the Boarder Trade...

Guwahati, March 10: H.W.T. Syiem, the banking ombudsman for the Northeast, has called for spiking the inner-line permit regulation to bolster investments in the region.“It is an archaic law and needs to be reviewed to make the region more investment-friendly,” Syiem said here today at a seminar on international trade and development of the region. The two-day seminar is being organised by the Northeast Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Syiem, a former secretary in the North Eastern Council, said prospective investors shy away from the Northeast because of its antiquated land laws, prohibiting...

GUWAHATI, March 9—The Indo-Myanmarese border trade across the Moreh point has suffered a setback due to closure of ‘Burma Economic Bank’. All the banking transactions have come to a grinding halt due to closure of the bank and as a result of which traders are facing severe problem. The bank has been closed down last week by the Military junta due to poor financial position.

It is learnt that a huge chunk of money of the Indian traders are yet to be paid by the Manmarese due to poor financial position. Talking to this Correspondent, the vice-president of the Indo-Myanmar Traders Union WN Singh...

GUWAHATI, March 8— The North-Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (NEEPCO), a company owned and controlled by the Central Government, is rather exploitative towards the North Eastern States! The attitude of the NEEPCO authorities was found to be so discriminatory to the NE States that at one point of time, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission even indicted the NEEPCO for its neglect and higher rates charged from the NE States for the power it is supplying to them.

The Regulatory Commission in its ‘Suo-moto proceedings in matters of supply of power from Doyang HE Project, NEEPCO, to...

NEW DELHI, March 8 — The Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) has agreed to take up the issue of withdrawal of excise duty exemption with retrospective effect on petroleum products of the State’s four refineries with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Union Finance Ministry, State Industries Minister, Bhuba-neswar Kalita said here today. The minister was given this assurance by minister-in-charge of DONER, Dr CP Thakur when he called on him. Sri Kalita joined the chorus of protest over the budgetary proposals envisaging withdrawal of the exemptions with retrospective...

NEW DELHI, March 7 — The Department for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) has in the last five years, sanctioned projects worth Rs 3,097.65 crore for the region out of the Non-lapsable Central Poll of Resources (NLCRP). Assam has been released projects worth Rs 139.95 crore in February. This was conveyed to a delegation of the North-east MPs’ Forum (NEMPF) by Union Minister in-charge of DONER, Dr CP Thakur, at a meeting held here yesterday. The first-ever meeting between the MPs and the new Minister was attended by Minister of State for DONER, Tapan Sikdar, senior officials of...

GUWAHATI, March 6 — In what should sound as a very welcome development to prospective investors, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has evinced keen interest to finance viable and feasible projects in the State and the North-east. “The North-east has the scope to develop and do well in different fields, and especially in the power sector, its potential is immense and we will definitely welcome any proposal for consideration, IFC Country Manager Hafeezuddin Ahmad who is based at Dhaka, told The Assam Tribune here today.

“We have, in fact, received quite a few proposals so far out of...

Guwahati, March 5: An unsavoury tug-of-war between the North Eastern Council and the civil aviation ministry has threatened to ground the ambitious Avions Transport Regionale (ATR) service, launched last year exclusively for increasing air connectivity in the region.

Despite tall promises, the ATR services have not been extended beyond Dimapur, Agartala and Lilabari due to the shortage of aircraft as the funding agency, the NEC, has not released the requisite money.

Alliance Air had launched the 50-seater ATR-42 flights on December 25, touted as a “gift” to the Northeast from the Prime...

NEW DELHI, March 1— Government will grant a ten year tax holiday for industries in Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttranchal and the North-eastern States to boost their economic development, reports PTI. Union Budget proposes to insert a new section 80-IC for this to allow a deduction for ten years from the profits of new undertakings or enterprises or existing undertakings or enterprises on their substantial expansion in these States. Substantial expansion for this purpose has been defined as an increase in investment in plant and machinery by at least 50 per cent of the book value of the plant...