NAMSAI, 15 Nov: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said that the Arunachal Pradesh government prudently managed its finances during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a substantial reduction in the share of central taxes.
“For Arunachal, the reduction in the share of central taxes last year was almost 25 percent, by Rs 3,329 crore. However, not even once we defaulted on our committed liabilities such as loan repayments, contributions to sinking funds, salaries, pensions and wages, etc,” Mein said during a virtual meeting on ‘investment, infrastructure development and growth’ convened by union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.
The meeting was attended by the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers/finance ministers of the states and the lieutenant governors of the union territories.
“In the current year, we have received around Rs 440 crore less than the anticipated as share of the central taxes in the first seven months,” the DCM said, and exuded confidence that the state will get the full share of central taxes.
Mein said that the state’s top priority sectors for investment are agriculture, horticulture, tourism, hydropower, connectivity, development of border areas, and integration with ASEAN countries.
He also highlighted the challenges and constraints faced by the state in exploiting the abundant natural resources for economic development due to harsh terrain, lack of employment opportunities, remoteness, poor connectivity and infrastructure, sparsely dispersed population, shallow financial markets, low skill base and cost disability on account of greater project costs.
Stating that the tourism sector suffered severe losses due to the Covid pandemic, Mein said that a coordinated approach is needed to revive the sector. He, however, said that the pandemic hardly hampered the progress of other developmental projects.
The DCM said that, to develop the villages along the India-China border, the state government is “pursuing a composite proposal, including construction of roads, drinking water provisions, development of health and education infrastructure, installation of micro hydel projects and solar lights in the border areas.”
He also highlighted the hydropower potential of the state and the government’s initiative with the PSUs to harness the potential.
Mein said that the immediate challenge for Arunachal is to “create an inflow of investment in the industrial sector, including for agro-processing sector,” and urged the central government to “support an industrial policy on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir for NE region.”
He suggested that the Centre may constitute a task force which can suggest a 10-year action plan to address the issues of connectivity, including digital connectivity, trade and investment in the NE region.
Planning & Investment Commissioner Prashant Lokhande also attended the virtual conference from the DC office here. (DCM’s PR Cell)
