Union Budget: North East gets more funds for development

Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has pumped in more money to develop the northeastern Region.

In his general budget, he has from the revised amount of Rs 1664.27 crore to Rs 1929.33 crore, a jump of Rs 265.06 crore.

The plan outlay under the head of northeastern areas has also been lifted from a meager Rs 3.65 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 73 crore.

The biggest jump is in the central plan outlay from Rs 91 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 205 crore, which include Rs 60 crore as outlays on industries and minerals, Rs 45 crore for roads and bridges under NE States Roads Investment Programme, which is a huge hike from just Rs 0.35 crore in the last budget allocation

The North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC) has been given a non-plan loan of Rs 2 crore to cover its cash losses. A similar loan amount has also been given to North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) as working capital. The allocation include Rs 60 crore soft loan to North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi)

Besides the regular special package of Rs 50 crore for Bodoland Territorial Council, the outlay also includes a provision of another Rs 50 crore for funding special projects and schemes for the economic development of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC) in Assam.