During the high-level task force meeting of DoNER Ministry, CM Manik Saha emphasized tourism expansion, agricultural marketing, and industrial investment to boost the Northeast’s development, proposing a dedicated tourist circuit and strategic industry roadmap.
Agartala April 7: In the first meeting of the high-level task force of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), the Chief Minister emphasized the importance of promoting and expanding tourism centers by establishing a Northeast Tourist Circuit.
He stressed the need to develop a marketing policy for the northeastern states to enhance the marketing of agricultural and horticultural products for the development of agriculture and horticulture in the state.
Chief Minister Professor (Dr.) Manik Saha expressed this opinion during the first meeting of the high-level task force, constituted on three subjects under the DoNER Ministry, held on Monday via video conference at the Secretariat.
The meeting, chaired by DoNER Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, involved detailed discussions on planning and potential areas for the development of agriculture, horticulture, investment growth, and the tourism industry across the eight northeastern states.
On this day, Chief Minister Professor (Dr.) Manik Saha, as the convener of the high-level task force aimed at expanding investment, discussed strategies for increasing investment among the northeastern states.
During the discussion, he highlighted the creation of a strategic roadmap for establishing industries in the concerned states, including setting up urea fertilizer plants leveraging mineral oil, gas, and coal mines, promoting bamboo-based industries, establishing rubber-based industries, edible oil factories, tea industry, medicinal plant cultivation, technology sectors, startups, real estate, healthcare, and tourism investment opportunities.
He also emphasized the establishment of modern mills for the aromatic Khasa rice produced in the state, promotion and expansion of organic farming, construction of infrastructure for storing various agricultural products, application of scientific methods in banana processing, and setting up rice husk processing units.
The meeting also focused extensively on potential areas for the development of the tourism industry across the eight northeastern states. During the discussion, Chief Minister Professor (Dr.) Manik Saha stressed the importance of establishing a Northeast Tourist Circuit to increase revenue for the northeastern states and to promote and expand tourism centers among tourists.
He discussed ensuring easily accessible air services for tourists, increasing investment in the tourism sector, arranging training for guides, ensuring tourist safety, and promoting the culture and heritage of each state.
In the meeting, DoNER Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia suggested initiatives to boost agricultural production in the northeastern states through digital mapping technology, value addition to agricultural products, promotion and marketing of agricultural products through the PPP model, and establishing storage systems.
He emphasized focusing on the production of specialty products from the eight states, increasing international trade, and prioritizing the implementation of various projects signed under MoUs.
He also stressed the establishment of an Investment Promotion Agency to enhance investment. He noted that the northeastern states are potential hubs for tourism and that new initiatives must be undertaken to attract tourists.
In this context, he cited the tourism systems of Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia as examples.
He further stated that these three Southeast Asian countries attract the highest number of tourists, and their initiatives for tourism development could be reviewed and adapted for implementation in the eight northeastern states of India if necessary.
He emphasized establishing one tourism site circuit in each of the eight states, along with providing various tourism-related services for the development of the tourism industry.
Additionally, Assam’s Agriculture Minister Atul Bora and Arunachal Pradesh’s Agriculture Minister Gabriel D. Wangsu participated in the discussion on agricultural development and shared their views. Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, the convener of the high-level task force on agriculture and horticulture, emphasized the development of agricultural infrastructure in the concerned states, providing easy loans to farmers through nationalized banks, creating a market chain for marketing agricultural products among the northeastern states, and formulating a separate agricultural policy.
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang discussed various potential investment areas in the northeastern states.
The discussion on potential areas for tourism development included contributions from Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, the convener of the high-level task force on tourism development.
Today’s virtual meeting was attended by Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha, Secretary of the Industry and Commerce Department Kiran Gitte, and Secretary of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department Apurva Roy, among others.
