Modi Government Increases Budget For India’s Northeast By 21 Per Cent To Over Rs 58,000 Crore 

In its sixth and final budget of this term, the Narendra Modi government has increased allocation for India’s Northeast by 21 per cent to nearly Rs 58,000 crore, the Times of India has reported. A substantial part of this allocation will be spent on improving infrastructure in the region, reports said.

"Allocation for the Northeastern areas is being proposed to be increased by 21 per cent to Rs 58,166 crore over 2018-19 budget estimates,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who has been given the additional charge of the finance and corporate affairs ministries in the absence of Arun Jaitley, said.

Listing the government’s achievements in the Northeast, the minister said that Arunachal has been brought on the country’s air map, and Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are now on India’s rail map.

He also noted that multiple infrastructure projects which have been stuck for decades in the region, like the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam and the Pakyong airport in Sikkim, have been completed and commissioned.

The minister added that container cargo movement will be introduced in the Northeast by improving the navigation capacity of the Brahmaputra river.

The government has allocated Rs 580 crore for schemes being implemented by the North Eastern Council, Rs 931 crore under Central Pool of Resources for Northeast and Sikkim and Rs 1,700 crore for the refund of Central and Integrated Goods and Services Tax to industries in the Northeastern region.