Centre to launch new North East Investment Development Scheme

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy interacting with the Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Mizoram said that a global tourism investment summit will be organized in March in the Northeast.

New Delhi: The Centre is all set to launch a new North East Investment Development Scheme (NEIDS) for the northeastern States very soon. Minister for Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy called on the States to share their inputs for the launch of the new scheme.

“States will be primary stakeholders in the successful implementation of the new NEIDS and their cooperation would be critical in ensuring that the scheme reflects the goals and realities of the region,” said Reddy while interacting with the Chief Ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram through video conferencing on Wednesday.

He said that a global tourism investment summit will be organized in March in the Northeast. “The summit will be a great opportunity to project the potential of the Northeast Region to the investors and also showcase the numerous opportunities in each sector,” Reddy said.

He said that necessary changes with respect to land availability, success to credit, developing plug-and-play infrastructure, and rolling out policies and incentives to boost thrust areas of respective States, would attract investors’ interest and make the summit a grand success.

Reddy requested the State Governments to ensure proper implementation of the Central Nodal Account (CNA) system of funds flow and timely refund of the unspent balances to the CNA account.

He also discussed the budget expenditure for the Financial Year 2022-23 and exhorted the State government to submit quality proposals to DoNER. He informed the States that Field Technical States Units (FTSUs) of DoNER have been set up in the States to provide all the necessary support and coordination. “States must strive to utilize 100 percent of the budgetary allocations,” he said.

The Minister also reviewed the status of the submission of DPRs for projects being sanctioned in 2022-23 and 2023- 24 under various schemes of DoNER. He called on the officers from both the State Governments and DoNER Ministry to accelerate the pace of the project lifecycle by striking close coordination at every stage.

He further suggested that the States may undertake initiatives to enhance ease of doing business such as fast-tracking approvals and licenses, upgrading single window systems, and appointing nodal officers at the district and State levels for resolving all investor queries.