GUWAHATI: With the national elections just a year away, the government on Saturday announced a mega investment and connectivity programme for the north-eastern states, entailing inflow of nearly Rs 10,000 crore through over 400 programmes expected to be rolled out in the next four years.
The investments relate to enhancing the telecom infrastructure in the state, apart from setting up BPOs, boosting electronics manufacturing, giving a push to digital payments, start-ups, and cyber security, IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
"This is the first time that the central government has conducted an in-depth analysis of the strength and weaknesses of the various states in the north-eastern region before finalising a comprehensive investment programme as part of the ‘Digital North-East Vision 2022’," Prasad said, adding that "the idea is to bring the states at par with the other regions of the country."
The programmes aim to give a booster to the telecom infrastructure in the region, where some of the states share their border with China. It will entail investments of Rs 7,800 crore for enhancing towers, optic fibre and other connectivity initiatives.
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