Union Minister G Kishan Reddy urged the northeastern states to develop an investor-friendly atmosphere and advised that the authorities organise a worldwide summit to attract investments. Reddy, the minister for North Eastern Region Development (DoNER), also asked senior officials to draught an action plan for the proposed global investors’ summit in the coming months.
“A global investors’ summit for the northeast should be organised soon, and all state governments must begin taking efforts to establish an investor-friendly ecosystem,” he said on Saturday, speaking at the North Eastern Council’s (NEC) 70th Plenary Session. Various measures must be implemented, including altering existing rules to meet the needs of investors, digitising land banks with plot-level information, streamlining processes, creating a single-window clearance system, and developing an inventory of readily investible projects.
He believes that each state in the region should endeavour to develop an investor facilitation centre and invest in supporting infrastructure such as approach roads, power connectivity, and water supply. The minister also emphasised the importance of private investment, stating that the Centre and state governments must collaborate to create an investment-friendly climate in the northeast.
“The goal of becoming the northeast India’s growth engine can only be achieved with perfect coordination between the Centre and state governments,” Reddy added. He advised that a few focus industries be identified, emphasising the importance of increasing the region’s investment potential by addressing bottlenecks in such segments. Reddy stated, “A’strengths and weaknesses’ study is required to identify gaps in critical sectors. This will aid in more focused development endeavours.”
He stated that the DoNER ministry is forming a task team to ensure that the region’s tourist potential is fully realised. “Developing infrastructure, skilling, and capacity building are the region’s top goals for tourism,” he stated. Reddy also stated that the recently formed ‘Agri Task Force’ would shortly deliver its final report, and that the findings must be leveraged to achieve full utilisation in the current fiscal year. The Centre has been working tirelessly to establish peace and security in the region, as well as to improve connection, he said, adding that the government has had “great success.” The first day of the two-day NEC meeting was devoted to various areas of regional development.
The region’s chief secretaries delivered presentations on ‘Priorities & Success Stories,’ deliberating on critical issues such as regional planning for telecom, broadband, and internet connection, primary sector growth, and tourism.
(source : PTI)
