Development / Northeast

GUWAHATI, Feb 17 — There is good news for private sector power companies willing to venture into the North East India which is considered the power house of the country given its tremendous hydro-power potential. The South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) is interested in financing privately-owned hydro-power projects, both mega and mini varieties, in the region.

Talking to this newspaper, Dr Anton de Wilde, the Programme Manager of the SEDF, informed that the SEDF was already in consultation with Tata Power which has shown interest in setting up hydro-electricity projects in the...

Guwahati, Feb. 16: The business fraternity in Bangladesh, especially those keen on trade with India, feels that it is imperative to make a fresh beginning to boost trade relations with the Northeast.

A high-powered trade delegation from the neighbouring country met prominent chambers of commerce and industry in the Northeast on Saturday to push trade relations.

The meeting was organised by the Northeast Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Talking to The Telegraph, director of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce Sayeeful Islam said frequent interactions between trade bodies of both the countries had led...

Imphal, Febuary 11: There is great imbalance in the export and import ratio of the trade being carrying out between India and Myanmar under the Indo-Myanmar Border Trade Agreement, an official of the State Commerce and Industries Department disclosed. The border trade between the two neighboring countries was established under an agreement signed some five years ago. Altogether 22 items can be imported from Myanmar but the items that can be exported are many and because of this imbalance the ongoing trade is not successful, the official said. The State Government had already submitted a...

LONGWA (Indo-Myanmar border), Feb 9 ? ?Nga trade chira India me... (we want trade with India for which both India and ?Burma? should work together for boosting trade), this was observed by a group of Myanmarese people living along the international border near Longwa. Longwa, a small village of Mon district of Nagaland has become a major trade point between India and Myanmar. The people of both the countries exchange their goods through barter system on every Friday, keeping aside their border dispute. The Indians generally exchange salt, potatoes, cattle and clothes while the Myanmarese...

Guwahati, Feb. 8: The state governments of the Northeast have failed to spend Rs 23 crore allocated over the past year under various schemes by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.

However, many schemes require matching contributions from the state governments, who are not in a position to disburse funds due to financial stringency.

Joint secretary in the ministry Rajwant Sandhu disclosed here today that of the allotted Rs 63 crore for the Northeast, the governments have utilised only Rs 40 crore. She said utilisation of funds in the current year is not very healthy either.

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Guwahati, Feb. 4: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) has called for laying emphasis on industries which can use local resources and have a local market.

Speaking at business meetings organised by the NEDFi at Silchar and Aizawl recently, its chairman and managing director J.P. Saikia said as big investments and outside investors were not forthcoming, the priority should be to develop local material.

The business meets were organised to woo local entrepreneurs of Barak Valley in Assam and Mizoram and to attract investors from outside to these regions.

Saikia...

NEW DELHI, Feb 4 ? Unimpressed by the progress in implementation of projects in the North-east, Prime Minister?s Office has constituted a special committee headed by Union Cabinet Secretary to monitor the progress of three selected projects. The projects which were part of the Prime Minister?s 28-point economic package has been making tardy progress forcing the PMO to intervene. The projects included the Rs 6,608 crore lower Subansiri Hydel project, North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (NEIGRIMS) and the border fencing project.

All the three projects have run out of...

AGARTALA, Feb 3 ? Darkness looms large over the State following the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation?s (NEEPCO decision to regulate power supply to the defaulter states. There is huge amount of outstanding dues of Tripura and other northeastern States to the NEEPCO accumulated over the last few years. Chief Engineer (Power), Ajit Kumar Debnath said, the State?s outstanding dues to the NEEPCO stands over Rs 50 crore accumulated over the past one year. A considerable amount of the required power in Tripura is met by the NEEPCO power from its 84 MW RKNagar power plant.

?However, we are...

Guwahati, Feb. 2: United Nations Development Programme is financing nine projects in the Northeast under its small grants programme, involving local communities in biodiversity and environment conservation.

The small grants programme is co-funded by the Global Environment Facility and Country Co-operation Framework, supporting activities, which demonstrate community-based approaches aimed at reducing threats to global environment. The northeastern regional cell of the Centre for Environment Education is co-ordinating the seven sister states to facilitate the small grants programme.

An...

Guwahati, Jan. 30: The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (Neepco) has once again threatened to regulate power supply to state governments of the region for failing to clear their outstanding dues.

A Neepco communiqu? issued by L.A. Kharmawphlang, assistant manager (public relations), said the situation has come to such a pass that the corporation is finding it difficult to run its power stations and continue uninterrupted supply of power. ?We will be compelled to regulate power supply to the defaulting states,? the corporation said.

The total outstanding dues of the...