Economy / Northeast

GUWAHATI, June 29 – In a bid to give a boost to trade, the Commerce Ministry has released Rs 12.25 crore for NE. The funds have been granted for development of border trade points and the existing infrastructure. Assam has been allotted Rs 5 crore, Rs 2.25 crore has gone to Arunachal Pradesh, Rs 2 crore to Meghalaya, while Nagaland and Manipur have been granted Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively.

The joint director of Foreign Trade, MK Mero, told this correspondent that the Commerce Ministry has been laying stress on infrastructure development in the North-east in order to increase the...

NEW DELHI, June 25 – Governor of Assam and the chairman of North Eastern Council (NEC), Lt Gen (retd) Ajai Singh has been asked to streamline the Council to ensure speedy implementation of the development projects. Minister DONER, PR Kyndiah gave this direction to the NEC chairman when he called on him this morning on a courtesy visit.

Lt Gen Singh apprised the Minister, DONER about the road maps of the NEC’s North-East inter States development projects in various sectors like agriculture, communications, roads, transport among others. Kyndiah said that NEC should streamline its role for...

Imphal, June 21: Setting up of an international standard bus station at Moreh is on card with Union Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways seeking a detailed project report (DPR) of the same from the State Government. Along with it, the Union Ministry has also asked the State Transport Department to submit a DPR on Imphal-Mandalay road connectivity in connection with its ambitious Trans-Asian Highways project, a reliable source disclosed. Although the proposal of the Union Ministry is welcome, it has put the State Transport Department in a fix over procuring 50 acres of land at Moreh for...

GUWAHATI, June 18 – Indian industries are facing stiff challenges following free flow of third country products across the international border. The problem in the North East is more apparent as most of the markets are being flooded by these cheap products, posing a serious threat to the Indian industries.

The third country products are generally brought from Myanmar and then sold to different markets as per demand of the people. Porous Indo-Myanmar border and lack of enforcing agencies are helping the traders to run their business without any hindrance.

In Guwahati, three markets...

New Delhi, June 16: Doner’s big plans for the Northeast just got bigger. Less than a fortnight after being upgraded from a department to a full-fledged ministry, the Doner team led by Union minister P.R. Kyndiah has drafted a budget in which estimates exceed those for the previous fiscal by several hundred crores of rupees.

An official source said the estimates total Rs 2,000 crore, the highest appraisal since Doner was set up as a department in 2001. These include allocations for the North Eastern Council (NEC) and the non-lapsable pool of central resources, both of which are controlled by...

GUWAHATI, June 13 (UNI): Policies and tax concessions, meant to aid the entrepreneurs in the north-eastern region, are instead helping investors from mainland India rake in a cool profit before calling it a day, foreign trade Joint Director General MK Mero said.

The North-east centric policies, conceived and implemented to gain a foothold in the national and the international markets, are instead helping investors from outside the region than the target group, Mero said.

Under the North-East Industrial Policy (NEIP), investors in the region enjoy an income tax holiday for ten years and a...

GUWAHATI, June 10: Eighteen elegant showrooms at the Indian Exposition Mart at Noida, New Delhi would soon be graced with fashion wears and handicrafts exclusively from the North-east. The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation’s (NEDFi) proposal to book the stalls in the proposed India Exposition Mart at New Delhi, developed by the Export Promotion Council of Handicrafts has been approved and sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC). The permanent stalls have been taken on lease by NEDFi at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore. The money has been sanctioned by the NEC.

The objective is to...

New Delhi, June 4: Three years after it was created and within three weeks of getting its first in-charge from the Northeast, the department for development of the northeastern region (Doner) has metamorphosed into a full-fledged ministry. Doner secretary Reva Nayyar said the “push” for the change in status followed the appointment of P.R. Kyndiah, who was elected to Parliament from Shillong constituency, as the Union minister for Northeast development and tribal affairs.

“He is a cabinet minister and it would have looked funny had he been in charge of only a department. This (transition from...

GUWAHATI, June 3 – The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi) has reduced its Prime Lending Rate (PLR) from 11 per cent to 10 per cent with effect from June 1, 2004. The objective of this one per cent reduction of PLR is to benefit the entrepreneurs of the North-East. It may be mentioned that financial assistance is provided to first generation entrepreneurs and woman entrepreneurs at a concessional rate of interest along with the soft loan component. The effective rate of interest under the North East Equity Fund Scheme, which is meant for first generation entrepreneurs...

GUWAHATI, June 3 — In a bid to give a boost to the cross border trade between India and Myanmar, Commerce Ministry has approved Rs 1.70 crore to the Longwa trade point of Nagaland. The funds has been approved for development of township and improvement of the existing roads in the area. The Nagaland Government has been demanding to declare Longwa as a trade point in order to increase the volume of legal trade with Myanmar. In 2003,Customs and the Foreign Trade departments had conducted a feasibility study and suggested improving the transportation system in the area for facilitating trade...