Japan to invest Rs 13,000 cr in North East projects

From Our Special Correspondent

GUWAHATI: Japan has decided to invest Rs 13,000crore (205.784 billion Yen) in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of the Northeast, including the Northeast Network Connectivity Improvement Project in Meghalaya.
This was disclosed after a meeting DoNER minister Jitendra Singh had with the Japanese delegation led by ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu in New Delhi on Wednesday, an official statement issued here said.
Some of the important projects in which Japan will collaborate include the Northeast Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project spread over Assam and Meghalaya, Northeast Network Connectivity Improvement Project in Meghalaya, Guwahati Water Supply Project and Guwahati Sewage Project in Assam, Bio-diversity Conservation and Forest Management Project in Sikkim, Sustainable Forest Management Project in Tripura, Technical Cooperation Project for Sustainable Agriculture and Irrigation in Mizoram along with the Forest Management Project in Nagaland.
Singh appreciated the Japanese contribution to the development and transformation of the North-Eastern region in the past three to four years.
He said, in the times to come, new areas of collaboration will also be sought to be worked out, which could possibly include bamboo-related collaboration.
“Significantly, it was the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which amended the 90-year old “Indian Forest Act of 1919” of the British government to bring the home-grown bamboo out of its purview,” the DoNER minister said.