Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha asserted with the transformation of India towards a developed nation, the Northeast region of the country has benefitted the most through Act East policy of the Narendra Modi led union government during the past nine years.

Chief Minister Dr Saha on Monday after arrival from New Delhi during his participation in the inauguration of new Parliament building, NITI Aayog meeting and in the Chief Ministers conclave of BJP ruled states, has attended the a programme marking the nine years of BJP government at the Centre in a hotel at Agartala, where he highlighted the achievements of both central and state government under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said the Maitri Setu, which connects Tripura with Chittagong Port and was inaugurated two years ago, will soon be fully operationalised and the Agartala-Akhaura rail link will be opened by the year-end.

Dr Saha said that be it connectivity boom or infrastructure building or welfare activities, Tripura benefitted the most among the Northeastern states since 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended broad gauge (BG) railway services to the frontier state and now, a total of 12 express trains and four local trains run from Agartala, said Dr Saha and added that a survey for construction of alternative railway line is under progress.

He also highlighted the development of national highways and operation of flights from Agartala during the past nine years.

While, in the afternoon addressing a press conference at Civil Secretariat Chief Minister accompanied by Chief Secretary J K Sinha and Secretary Dr P K Chakraborty, Dr Saha highlighted the achievements of the state government, which were highlighted in the NITI Aayog meeting and in CM’s conclave in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said that in the NITI Aayog meeting, 8 important issues were highlighted including a vision document ‘Lakshya-2047’ laying the road map of the development for the state till 2047 has been launched on January 2st, 2022 on the occasion of Tripura’s 50th statehood day.

Dr Saha said that the government stressed importance on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as state have huge potential for food processing, rubber, tea, bamboo, handloom and handicraft and sericulture are the key sectors. He said that for the MSME sector, the trade volume between Tripura and Bangladesh has been increased and through ‘Tripura Industrial Investment Promotion Incentive Scheme (TIIPIS), 2022’ , the MSEME are getting additional capital subsidy, lower power tariff and easy access to industrial estates etc.

The government has released Tripura Agarwood police, 2021 to make tripura the main hub for the agarwood trade in the country and to tap about Rs. 2000 crore of ‘Agar economy’ by 2025.

The state government is committed to pro-development governance with continued focus in ease of doing business and building infrastructure and job creation.

To attract investors, the government has taken a number of initiatives and has put in place the ‘single window clearance’ system for investment proposals through ‘Swaagat portal’. The portal has on boarded 17 departments covering 60 services to provide fast track statutory clearances for business, said Dr Saha and added that the government has increased its capital expenditure from Rs. 835 crore during 2021-22 to Rs. 2200 crore in 2022-23 with annual growth of about 62%.

Recently, the government in association with DoNER ministry organized North East Global Investors Summit-2023 by a round table conference on investible opportunities in the state, which led to signing of MoU of Rs. 338 crore.

Dr said that the government identified over 2000 acres of land for industrial development. He said that government has also brought down VAT on aviation turbine fuel from 5 % to 1 % to reduce air fare for travelers and has given subsidy of Rs. 1400 crore per annum for air connectivity between Agartala and Chittagong, which will boost up the air travel in the sectors of hospitality and health services.

Dr Saha also highlighted the women empowerment and steps taken by the state government including 33 % reservation and one exclusive woman TSR battalion, promotion of women Self-help-groups (SHGs), village organizations (VOs) and cluster level federations etc.

Dr Saha also lists out the achievements and schemes facilities in health and nutrition sectors , skill development , development of tourism and effective implementation of ‘PM GatiShakti’ scheme .