Rs 450 cr highway development aid to NE

To boost transport links in the NE, the Finance Minister announced a special package for highway development.

Giving a major fillip to development of transport links in the Northeast, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday announced a special package for highway development in the region and assured support for two crucial railway lines of national importance.

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Announcing the Budget 2005-06 proposals in Parliament, he said the Northeastern states would also get Rs 9,308 crore from ministries and Government departments as all of them have to allocate at least 10 per cent of their plan budget for schemes and programmes in the region from last year.

He said the Centre had approved a special package for highway development in the region, for which Rs 450 crore had been allocated.

The construction of the Kumarghat-Agartala railway line in Tripura and Lumbing-Silchar-Jiribam-Imphal line from Assam to Manipur would be supported with additional funds outside the Railway Budget as projects of national importance.

According special attention to recurring flood problems in Northeast, the Finance Minister announced that Rs 180 crore had been earmarked for implementation of the recommendations of a Task Force on flood management and erosion control.

Besides the NE states, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa would also benefit from the proposal.

The tea plantation sector would get a boost from the Finance Minister's proposal to remove surcharge of Re one per kilogram of tea.