SHILLONG, Dec 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced Rs 90,000 crore for improving roads and national highways in the Northeast in the next two to three years to facilitate better connectivity.
The prime minister dedicated to the nation a 271-km two-lane national highway connecting Tura in western Meghalaya and Shillong.
Meghalaya was the second stop of the prime minister after Mizoram during his daylong visit to the Northeastern region today.
“Over the next 2-3 years, an investment of about Rs 60,000 crore is proposed under the Special Accelerated Road Development Project (SARDP) in the Northeast and an investment of Rs 30,000 crore under Bharatmala is proposed for development of national highways in northeastern states,” Modi said while addressing a BJP rally here.
He said the central government has sanctioned around 4,000-km of national highway (NH) across the Northeast at a cost of Rs 32,000 crore. The prime minister said that over 1,200 km of NH was constructed at an expenditure of nearly Rs 14,000 crore during the last three years alone. Union Minister KJ Alphons was present on the occasion.
Mizoram has become the third power-surplus state in the North-East after Sikkim and Tripura, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
He also said the central schemes for the benefit of the NE have gained momentum, and that his government is committed to developing the region.
“Today, we celebrate a significant milestone in the history of Mizoram with the completion and dedication of the 60 mw Tuirial hydropower project,” the prime minister said, while addressing a public meeting here after inaugurating it.
With the commissioning of the project, Mizoram became the third power-surplus state in the North-East, he added.
The hydropower project will produce “251 million units” of electrical energy every year and boost the economic development of the state, Modi said.
“The completion of this project is a reflection of our commitment to completing the ongoing projects and ushering in a new era of development in the North-East,” he added.
The Tuirial project, which was announced and cleared in 1998 by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, is the first major central project to be successfully commissioned in Mizoram, the prime minister said. (PTI)
