Tripura's growth rate outpaced national average: Scindia

 Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said the Centre has allocated around Rs 6.5 lakh crore for the northeastern region over the last 12 years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office.
Addressing a central function at Pragna Bhavan here for the inauguration and foundation stone laying of DoNER-funded projects, Scindia said all central ministries were mandated to earmark 10 per cent of their budgets for the Northeast, which resulted in a substantial increase in fund flow to the region. He said the budgetary allocation for the Northeast alone stood at around Rs one lakh crore in the last financial year.
Referring to Tripura’s economic performance, the minister said the state’s growth rate had significantly outpaced the national average over the past decade. He said Tripura’s gross domestic product growth, which earlier ranged between 3 and 4 per cent, had risen to about 10.5 to 11 per cent per annum in the last 10 years. In comparison, he said the national compounded growth rate stood at around 6.5 per cent, indicating that Tripura was growing at a much faster pace than the national average.
Scindia also said global economic growth rates currently ranged between 2.5 and 2.75 per cent.
He said the Centre’s investment had led to improvements in connectivity and infrastructure in Tripura and other northeastern states. According to the minister, the length of national highways in Tripura increased to about 1,550 km from around 850 km over the last decade. He also referred to improvements in railway freight movement and the expansion of air connectivity following the inauguration of the new terminal at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport.
The minister said Guwahati and Tripura were expected to emerge as gateways connecting the Northeast with Southeast Asia.
On industrial development, Scindia said the DoNER ministry had organised investment summits in several metropolitan cities, during which memoranda of understanding worth about Rs 55,000 crore were signed. He said efforts were underway to ensure that these proposals were translated into operational industrial units across the Northeast, including Tripura.
During the event, the minister inaugurated and laid foundation stones for eight projects with a total estimated cost of Rs 351 crore. The projects included the Jatanbari–Mandirghat via Tirathmukh Road, improvement of the KA Road from Erarpar to Ambassa, the Gandacherra–Raishyabari–Narikel Kunja Road, the Amarpur (Fatiksagar) to Chabimura connectivity project, a solar microgrid project under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region scheme, the Kowaifung (Panjirai) to Karbook Road, the Jampui (PMGSY point) to Kangrai Road, and the Burighat to Sermun-II Road.
Earlier, speaking to reporters after his arrival at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, Scindia said projects worth around Rs 550 crore would be dedicated to the people of Tripura during his three-day visit to the state.
He also said a pilot project for the agarwood sector had been sanctioned for Tripura and Assam under the DoNER ministry, with a cluster-level agarwood processing unit to be set up at Kadamtala in North Tripura district at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore. He said he would attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the project.
The minister said foundation stones for projects worth Rs 280 crore under the Matabari tourism sector would be unveiled at Narikelkunja on January 24, and that he would visit the Mata Tripura Sundari temple later in the day.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, speaking at the same event, said Tripura’s development efforts had received national recognition, adding that the state had received over 300 awards at the national and regional levels over the last 10 years under various parameters.