Parliament Question: Development of North Eastern States

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 139 To be answered on Thursday, February 12, 2026/ 23 Magha, 1947 (Saka) QUESTION Development of North Eastern States 139# Shri Pradip Kumar Varma Will the Minister of Development of North Eastern Region be pleased to state: (a) the status of infrastructure, road connectivity and implementation of Digital India through North Eastern Council (NEC) in all the eight North Eastern States; (b) the impact of the North Eastern Roads Sector Investment Programme (NERSIP), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and air connectivity from Delhi/other cities on connectivity and tourism business; (c) the achievements in the area of value chain, branding and market linkages of bamboo, tea, handloom, spices and organic products, and (d) the impact of special packages for education, health, skill development and employment on the opportunities available to local youth? ANSWER The Minister of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region [Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia] (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO THE PART (a) to (d) OF THE RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 139 FOR 12th FEBRUARY, 2026 REGARDING “DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN STATES” (a) North Eastern Council (NEC) has been implementing various infrastructure projects aimed at promoting regional development in the North Eastern Region (NER). Under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) – Roads, NEC has taken up a total of 120 projects for construction and improvement of 1,857.30 km of roads in the region, with a total approved sanctioned cost of ₹5743 crore, of which 57 projects have been completed so far. In addition to road connectivity, NEC has undertaken 128 infrastructure projects during the past five years in key sectors such as education, sports, health, tourism, and industry. These projects involve a total sanctioned cost of ₹857.19 crore, of which 5 projects have been completed to date. Digital Governance projects are not implemented through the NEC as such. However, as per the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), major Digital India initiatives in NER include the establishment of a National Data Centre for the North-Eastern Region (NDC-NER) at Guwahati, Assam, which serves as a regional hub for hosting e-governance services for all eight North-Eastern States. In addition, State Data Centres (SDCs) have been set up across the region to facilitate secure data storage, disaster recovery, and delivery of G2G, G2C, and G2B services. Further, e-Office applications are being hosted for ten States/Union Territories, including all eight North- Eastern States, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh, on a unified cloud platform to promote paperless governance and faster decision-making. MeitY has also approved the Modernisation and Digitalisation of the Nagaland Fire and Emergency Management System (NFES-MS) to improve operational efficiency through a centralized digital framework. The National Knowledge Network (NKN) provides high-speed connectivity for data centres, State Wide Area Networks, and educational and research institutions. In the North-Eastern Region, 157 NKN links have been established across institutions in all eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. (b) Under erstwhile North Eastern States Road Investment Programme (NESRIP), 12 projects covering a total road length of 433.20 km were implemented in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura, which helped in connecting remote places and habitations, thereby facilitating various economic activities including tourism promotion and movement of agricultural goods to the markets.As per Ministry of Rural Development, under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), improved rural road network contributed to strengthening rural economies by facilitating easier transport of goods to markets. Enhanced connectivity fostered economic growth & trade, generated employment opportunities through construction and maintenance jobs and also facilitated tourism in the North Eastern Region. Since the inception of PMGSY, 17,666 road works of 89,503 km and 2,396 bridge works have been sanctioned in North Eastern States, of which, construction of 16,547 road works of 81,448 km and 2,126 bridges has been completed with an expenditure of Rs. 53,353.49 crore including State share. For improved air connectivity, Ministry of Civil Aviation launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme – Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (RCS-UDAN) in 2016 to enhance regional air connectivity from unserved and underserved airports in the country and make air travel affordable to the masses. A total of 90 routes have been operationalised in the North Eastern Region (NER) under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), connecting 12 airports and heliports across the NER states. These include 10 airports—Pasighat, Tezu, Hollongi, Jorhat, Lilabari, Rupsi, Tezpur, Dimapur, Shillong, and Pakyong—and 2 heliports, namely, Jiribam and Tamenglong. Further, since January 2022, 42 RCS routes have been operationalised in North Eastern States. Three new aerodromes have been operationalised during the period, which include Hollongi Airport (Arunachal Pradesh), and Heliports of Jiribam and Tamenglong in Manipur. Between 2014 and 2025, four Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in North Eastern Region have been upgraded to operational Air Terminals, out of which, two ALGs at Hollongi (Donyi Polo) Airport and Ziro were operationalised after 01.01.2022. Besides UDAN, under the Scheme of “Providing Air Connectivity in NER”, Viability Gap Funding is provided to M/s Alliance Air for providing air connectivity in NER. The Krishi Udan Scheme seeks to converge various initiatives by eight Ministries/Departments, namely, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region. The Scheme aims to ensure seamless, cost-effective, time-bound air transportation and associated logistics for all agri-produce originating especially from Northeast, hilly and tribal regions of the country, so that it improves their value realisation. The Scheme covers 58 airports in the country, inter-alia, including a total of 13 such airports in the North Eastern Region. (c) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region provides project based supports, inter alia, for strengthening value chain including branding and marketing linkages in agricultural and allied sectors. Sectorwise achievements include:Bamboo: Fifty-two (52) projects worth Rs. 238.94 crore have been sanctioned under Schemes of NEC of which twenty nine (29) projects worth Rs. 111.98 crore have been completed. Tea: Seventeen (17) projects worth Rs. 54.05 crore have been sanctioned under Schemes of NEC, of which, thirteen (13) projects worth Rs. 42.79 crore have been completed. Handloom: Eighteen (18) projects worth Rs. 79.54 crore have been sanctioned under Schemes of NEC, of which eleven (11) projects worth Rs. 36.29 crore have been completed. Spices: Three (3) projects worth Rs. 9.29 crore have been sanctioned under Schemes of NEC, of which two (2) projects worth Rs. 4.73 crore have been completed. Organic Product: Nine (9) projects worth Rs. 34.20 crore have been sanctioned under Schemes of NEC, of which, six (6) projects worth Rs 26.20 crore have been completed. (d) In last 5 years, under Schemes of NEC, 31 projects related to health sector worth Rs. 154.68 crore have been sanctioned of which 15 projects worth Rs. 38.21 Crore have been completed under Schemes of NEC, as on 31.12.2025. These projects include construction of hospitals, nursing colleges, hostels for nurses, maternity and child care centres, dialysis units and medical warehouses. Under Schemes of NEC, in last 5 years, 120 projects worth Rs. 539.93 Crore in education sector have been sanctioned of which 17 projects worth Rs. 58.73 crore have been completed as on 31.12.2025. These projects include academic buildings, laboratories, smart class rooms and infrastructures of polytechnics. In Last 5 Years, under Schemes of NEC, 20 Projects related to skill development and employment worth Rs. 115.44 crore have been sanctioned, of which 2 Projects worth Rs. 6.13 crore have been completed, as on 31.12.2025. In Special Development Package, 5 projects in health and education sectors worth Rs. 97.12 Crore have been completed. These include creation of infrastructure for hospital, livelihood, training and capacity building. *******