**Executive Summary**
This document summarizes the Indian government's response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 549, regarding funds allocated to North Eastern (NE) states under various schemes of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) over the last five years. The response details fund allocation, utilization, and measures taken to improve financial management. The question was answered on December 3, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Fund Allocation:**
* A total of Rs. 15905.86 crore has been allocated to NE states by the Ministry of DoNER over the last 5 years (FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25).
* Allocations were made under various schemes, including:
* Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)
* Schemes of North Eastern Council (SoNEC)
* North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Other than Roads Infrastructure)
* North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Roads)
* Special Development Packages (SDP)
* North East Entrepreneurs Development Scheme (NEEDS)
* State-wise fund release details are provided in a table. Assam received the highest amount (Rs. 2306.34 crore), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (Rs. 1203.00 crore), Meghalaya (Rs. 1231.93 crore), and Nagaland (Rs. 1137.34 crore).
* **Fund Utilization:**
* The overall fund utilization by the states under these schemes has been 62%.
* Slow pace of fund utilization is attributed to factors like short working seasons, land availability issues, challenging terrains, and supply bottlenecks.
* **Measures to Strengthen Financial Management:**
* The Poorvottar Vikas Setu (PVS) portal has been developed for state governments to upload demand letters and supporting documents for fund release proposals.
* A demand request module has been added to the PVS Setu portal for submitting demand requests and uploading Utilization and Completion Certificates.
* Project Quality Monitors/Third Party Technical Inspection mechanism has been introduced for monitoring ongoing projects.
* Field Level Technical Support Units (FTSUs) have been established in each state through the North East Development Finance Institution.
* FTSUs interact with Implementing Agencies, submit progress reports, highlight bottlenecks, conduct field inspections, and upload project photographs to the Gatishakti portal of MDoNER.
* **Reforms to Improve Fund Disbursal Efficiency:**
* Fund releases for projects sanctioned under various schemes are now made in four equal installments of 25% each.
* Outcome-based monitoring is covered under the Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF) of NITI Aayog, and reports are submitted regularly.
**Impact Analysis**
**State Governments of North Eastern States**
* **Impact**
* States are impacted by the allocations, release, and utilization of funds under various schemes. They are affected by the implementation of financial management measures.
* **Action Required**
* States need to utilize the PVS Setu portal for submitting fund release proposals and uploading necessary documents. They must address challenges hindering fund utilization, such as land availability and supply bottlenecks. States are also responsible for complying with new fund disbursal policies (four equal installments).
**Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)**
* **Impact**
* DoNER is responsible for the allocation, release, and monitoring of funds under the schemes. They are responsible for implementing and overseeing the strengthened financial management measures and disbursal efficiency reforms.
* **Action Required**
* DoNER needs to oversee the effective implementation of the PVS Setu portal and FTSUs. They need to monitor fund utilization by the states and address any bottlenecks in project implementation.
**Project Implementing Agencies (IAs)**
* **Impact**
* IAs are impacted by the new financial management measures and monitoring mechanisms.
* **Action Required**
* IAs need to interact with FTSUs, maintain project databases, submit progress reports, and provide updates to State Planning Departments.
**NITI Aayog**
* **Impact**
* NITI Aayog is involved in outcome-based monitoring through the Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF).
* **Action Required**
* NITI Aayog needs to receive and analyze reports submitted regularly under the OOMF.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER): The primary entity responsible for allocating and managing funds for development schemes in the North Eastern Region of India, as described in the document.
North Eastern States: The geographical region to which the funds and schemes discussed in the document apply.
Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE): A key initiative for the North East Region.
Poorvottar Vikas Setu (PVS): A portal used for processing fund release proposals for the North East Region.
NITI Aayog: A policy think tank of the Government of India involved in monitoring the outcomes of projects in the North East Region.
Government of India
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 549
To be answered on
Wednesday, December 3, 2025/Agrahayana 12, 1947 (Saka)
QUESTION
Funds under various Schemes in NE States
549. Ms. Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde:
Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be
pleased to state:
(a) the details of total funds allocated, released and utilized under various
schemes of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and
the North Eastern Council (NEC) during the last five years, State-wise;
(b) whether there has been any underutilization of funds or lapses in expenditure
in any of the North Eastern (NE) States;
(c) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons identified by the Government;
(d) whether the Government has undertaken any measures to strengthen
financial management and monitoring mechanism for project implementation and
if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the details of reforms introduced by the Government to improve fund disbursal
efficiency and outcome-based monitoring of projects in the said region?
ANSWER
The Minister of State for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
[Dr. Sukanta Majumdar]
(a), (b) & (c) As per the Revised Estimates budget figures, a total of Rs.
15905.86 crore has been allocated for North Eastern States over last 5 years
by the Ministry of DoNER under the following schemes:(i) Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE)
(ii) Schemes of North Eastern Council (SoNEC)
(iii) North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Other than Roads
Infrastructure)
(iv) North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Roads)
(v) Special Development Packages (SDP)
(vi) North East Entrepreneurs Development Scheme (NEEDS)
The State wise funds released by the Ministry of DoNER under the said
schemes during last five years (FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25) are given in the
table below:
S.N. Name of the State Funds released during last 5 years (Rs. crore)
1 Arunachal Pradesh 1203.00
2 Assam 2306.34
3 Manipur 717.62
4 Meghalaya 1231.93
5 Mizoram 809.49
6 Nagaland 1137.34
7 Sikkim 763.93
8 Tripura 702.90
9 Central Agency 996.22
Total 9868.77
Despite several challenges, the utilization of funds by the States under these
schemes has been 62%.
The fund release proposals are processed after uploading of demand letter on
Poorvottar Vikas Setu (PVS) portal by the State Government along with all necessary
supporting documents.
Release of funds to the State Govt. depends upon the demand from the States,
financial and physical progress of implementation by the States as well as utilization
of funds already released to them. Also, short working seasons, land availability,
challenging terrains, supply bottlenecks of construction materials are some of the
causes for slow pace of utilization of funds in the North-East States.
(d) To strengthen the financial management, PVS Setu portal has been developed
which has a demand request module that has a provision for submitting demand
requests for release of funds for ongoing projects along with provision for uploadingthe Utilization Certificates and Completion Certificates by the State Govt/Central
agencies. To strengthen monitoring of ongoing projects, mechanism of Project Quality
Monitors/Third Party Technical Inspection has been introduced. Ministry also placed
a Field Level Technical Support Unit (FTSU) in each State through North East
Development Finance Institution. FTSUs are regularly interacting with project
Implementing Agencies (IA), maintaining and updating database of these projects,
regularly submitting progress reports and providing feedback to MDoNER highlighting
any bottleneck, etc. FTSUs also carry out field inspections and meet the officials of
State Planning Departments regularly to update the information about ongoing
projects. Latest photographs of ongoing projects are uploaded on the Project
Management System - Gatishakti portal of MDoNER by the FTSUs during the site
inspections through the mobile application.
(e) To improve fund disbursal efficiency, and to a strike a balance between
expeditious expenditure and proper monitoring, the releases of the projects sanctioned
under various Schemes of the Ministry are now made in four equal installments of 25%
each. An outcome – based monitoring of projects under various schemes of MDoNER
is covered under Output-Outcome Monitoring framework (OOMF) of NITI Aayog and
reports are submitted regularly to NITI Aayog.
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