Tripura urges Centre to boost connectivity with Bangladesh, Myanmar for exports

Abhishek Chandra, Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce took up the demand of the Tripura government in meeting with MoS Prakash during a review meeting on the North Eastern Industrial Development Scheme (NE-IDS) and the state's tea industry at the State Guest House in Agartala on Wednesday.

Agartala: The Tripura government has urged the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Prakash for simplifying and modernizing the connectivity with Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost the tourism and export trade of the state. Abhishek Chandra, Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce took up the demand of the Tripura government in a meeting with MoS Prakash during a review meeting on the North Eastern Industrial Development Scheme (NE-IDS) and the state's tea industry at the State Guest House in Agartala on Wednesday.

Abhishek emphasized further simplifying and modernizing the communication system with Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost tourism and export trade of the state under the NE-IDS scheme, which was launched on April 1, 2017, for a period of 5 years, to encourage industrial setting up in North Eastern states. In the review meeting, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som directed the concerned officials to speedily resolve all the problems in setting up industries in Tripura.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Act East Policy has emphasized overall development of North Eastern states. To improve the financial condition of this region, a favorable environment for the establishment of small industries should be created,” he said. Representatives of various state and national level industry organizations were present at this meeting.

In the second phase of the review meeting, a comprehensive discussion was held on the tea industry in the state. In the meeting, stress was laid on setting up an auction center in the state to sell tea. As a result, the small tea growers of states like Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, etc. will also benefit. At the meeting, Tea Board of India official Arunima Phukan Yadav said that there is a possibility of holding a meeting in this regard in early September.

Secretary Abhishek Chandra said that all kinds of assistance will be provided by the state government to set up this auction center. It was also informed in the meeting that exporting tea from the North Eastern region including Tripura to Bangladesh will benefit the state a lot. The participants batted for joint efforts from the state and central governments in this regard.