Centre mulls spending Rs 8,000 crore on highways in North-East

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is working on a Rs 8,000-crore plan that seeks to turn around the economy of India's north-eastern states by restoring, widening or building 1,500 km of highways. This is the first time that highway construction in the region is being taken up on such scale with the specific agenda of boosting trade, despite security concerns that had held back development in the past, a senior official said requesting anonymity.

India's northeast, comprising seven states, shares boundaries with China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Mayanmar - countries which offer huge potential for two-way trade through the land route. The region is also seen as a gateway to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean. "Northeast India has the potential to transform India's trade trajectory with Asean nations," said Chandan Choubey, senior analyst (transportation & logistics) at KPMG Global Services.

Trade between India and the 10-nation Asean crossed Rs 2,50,000 crore in 2010-11. The ministry's initiative to jump-start highway construction in the northeast follows the flak it received from the Lok Sabha's Committee on Estimates. In a report tabled in Parliament, the committee said most highway projects in the region have overrun their completion schedule.