Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the state lost huge investment opportunities to the tune of about Rs 91,565 crore due to dilution of North East Industrial Policy 1997 by the then BJP-led NDA government.
Releasing the ‘White Paper on Contributions of NDA and UPA Governments in Assam During Their Respective Periods’, Gogoi accused the NDA regime of doing nothing for the state.
“The North East Industrial Policy 1997 that offered a slew of incentives were diluted by the then NDA government, whereas it extended the same to other states. As a result, industrial growth in Assam in particular and the North East in general suffered a major setback,” he added.
“Thousands of youths who would have got employment were deprived and the state suffered a huge loss of Rs 91,565 crore worth investments,” Gogoi claimed.
The Congress-led UPA government restored the incentives offered by the old policy through The North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy 2007 to provide the much- needed impetus to the industries in the state and the region as a whole, he said.
He, however, did not mention the projects and investments that Assam lost to other states due to dilution of the policy.
“When the Congress-led UPA government took the reins of power in 2004, Assam bagged several mega projects and schemes. There has been a sea change on the road, rail and air connectivity.”
The National Highways Authority of India has poured in Rs 10,868.44 crore during the UPA tenure as against Rs 101.20 crore in the NDA term, Gogoi said.
He further said that seven new bridges over Brahmaputra were sanctioned and the railways invested Rs 12,359 crore during the last 10 years compared to Rs 1,063 crore in the previous 5 years of the NDA rule. Public sector undertaking ONGC is another major investor in Assam with Rs 11,389.43 crore during the two terms of UPA, while it pumped in no money during the NDA term, Gogoi said.
While no fund was allocated for minority development in the state by the NDA, the UPA has so far given Rs 703.5 crore for multi-sectoral development plan (MSDP), he claimed.
“Total funds received by Assam from the NDA government for flood protection and anti-erosion works was Rs 208.06 crore in comparison to Rs 1,268.16 crore during the UPA regime. The same for calamity relief and disaster response stood at Rs 2,472.73 crore as against Rs 535.84 crore,” he said. Gogoi also said that funds received by the state from the NDA government for rural development was Rs 1,916.94 crore as compared to Rs 13,926.41 crore during the UPA regime.
“All these facts and figures strongly refute Narendra Modi’s contention that Dr Manmohan Singh did not do anything worthwhile for Assam,” Gogoi said. (PTI)
