Infrastructure is a catalyst for development: Governor

Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Tuesday asserted that infrastructure is a catalyst for

development. He said the government is committed to the development

of the state by strengthening infrastructure. The Centre is very liberal in investing in

infrastructure to eliminate service backlogs of northeast with special emphasis on rural areas, Mukhi said at the inaugural

session of North East Infrastructure Development Conclave, organised by the CII-North East, here.

A well-planned infrastructure enables established businesses to expand their production levels and encourage

small businesses to enter the market and as such, both Central and state governments are making concerted efforts to put in

place a robust infrastructure for physical connectivity in the areas of air, water, internet and land transport, he said.

He said the Union budget has allocated funds for laying new tracks and doubling of railway lines in the

northeast region, the governor said. Electrification of railway lines under the Northeast

Frontier Railways was also going on and by 2022 the three states of Mizoram, Manipur and Sikkim will be connected by

railways, he added. The Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has

also conceived of extensive national highway projects to give a boost to the region's physical connectivity.

The governor also highlighted the measures being undertaken in northeast for bringing the region closer to the

rest of the country with 12 airports in the region being operative and the Guwahati Airport being revamped with a new

state of the art terminus. Moreover, a seamless digital connectivity has been in

use in the region by liberalising its cyber space with India and Bangladesh signing an agreement for using unspent

bandwidth available at Bangladesh's Cox Bazar in Chittagong to bring in a revolution not only in the northeast but also in

some mainland states, he said. Assam is nurtured by two great rivers--the Brahmaputra

and Barak and both along with their many tributaries have huge potential for river transport, tourism and industry.

He also said that inland waterways in Assam received a boost during the last five years.

There was an urgent need for strengthening the physical infrastructure of Assam as it was the largest among

the eight northeastern states, with a population of 33 million and area of 78 thousand square kilometre, the governor said.

In the face of growing urban population and rising urban infrastructural needs, solutions like planning newer

modes of transportation systems especially for congested areas has become the need of the hour, he added.