Will NDA’s North East strategy work?
The government plans to invest Rs92,000 crore for development of North East
New Delhi: The government plans to invest around ₹ 92,000 crore for infrastructure development in the country’s northeast, given its strategic and economic importance.
In this regard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met chief ministers of Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura and the finance minister of Mizoram on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by finance minister Arun Jaitley and Arvind Panagariya, vice chairman of NITI Aayog.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to pay special attention to the region in its election manifesto. “There will be special emphasis on massive infrastructure development, especially along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim," the BJP manifesto said.
In keeping with its resolve, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has stepped up efforts to provide facilities to border villages in the upper regions to prevent any migration to the lower areas. Efforts to develop border infrastructure in the region has also been stepped up as part of India’s so-called Act East policy.
“Under SARDPNE (Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-East), ₹ 35,000 crore is proposed to be invested to develop the trans-Arunachal highway and for connecting all district headquarters by a two-lane highway (about 6400 km). New rail network is being created in addition to strengthening the existing network at a cost of ₹ 57,000 crore," the prime minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
New Delhi is also developing the physical infrastructure along the Brahmaputra river basins, having identified roads, bridges and air connectivity that need to be built, with hydropower projects bordering China acquiring a strategic dimension. This infrastructure is necessary to expedite these projects as large equipment and materials have to be transported to far-flung areas.
China’s ambitious $62 billion south-north water diversion scheme for rivers that flow downstream into the Brahmaputra, known in China as the Yarlung Tsangpo, is why the government is focusing on the projects. Of the eight river basins in Arunachal Pradesh, Subansiri, Lohit and Siang are of strategic importance as they are closer to the border with China.
Any delay in executing these projects, particularly on the rivers originating in China, will affect India’s strategy of establishing a prior-use claim. The Centre is also focusing on the development of water storage projects awarded in Arunachal Pradesh to manage the fallout from China’s plans. The government plans to allot at least one major project each in Subansiri, Lohit and Siang basins as close to the international border as possible.
“Similarly, investments are being taken up by the telecom, power, civil aviation and shipping ministries in order to improve the connectivity—air, road, rail and Internet—of the region, internally as well as externally under the Act East policy of the Union Government," the PMO statement added.
As part of the infrastructure development strategy, India has been pursuing major electricity transmission projects in states that border China, going it alone if multilateral lending agencies, such as the World Bank, back out. Given India’s stand, even Japan International Cooperation Agency is willing to finance infrastructure projects in Indian border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.
China claims 90,000 sq. km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh, a state which also boasts the highest potential for hydropower generation in India. India and China had a face-off for 21 days in April 2013 over an incursion by Chinese troops into Indian territory. The two countries are yet to resolve a long-standing border dispute.
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