The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is a Government of India ministry, established in September 2001, which functions as the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic development of the eight States of Northeast India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. It acts as a facilitator between the Central Ministries/ Departments and the State Governments of the North Eastern Region in the economic development including removal of infrastructural bottlenecks, provision of basic minimum services, creating an environment for private investment and to remove impediments to lasting peace and security in the North Eastern Region.
The current Minister of Development of North Eastern Region is Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Functions and responsibilities
The Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) was created in 2001 and was accorded the status of a full-fledged ministry in May 2004. The ministry is mainly concerned with the creation of infrastructure for economic development of North-Eastern region.
Main activities/functions of the DoNER. Non Lapsible Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) Coordination with the Central Ministries and the State Governments of the NE states. Capacity Building Advocacy and Publicity International Cooperation Enterprises of the Department
Organisations The ministry has following organisations functioning under it: North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd.(NEDFi) North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) The Sikkim Mining Corporation Limited. (SMC) North Eastern Handlooms and Handicrafts Development Corporation (NEHHDC) North East Cane and Bamboo Development Council
Cabinet Ministers
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Arun Shourie 1 September 2001 29 January 2003 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee C. P. Thakur 29 January 2003 22 May 2004 Paty Ripple Kyndiah 23 May 2004 24 October 2006 Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh Mani Shankar Aiyar 24 October 2006 22 May 2009 Bijoy Krishna Handique 28 May 2009 12 July 2011 Manmohan II Paban Singh Ghatowar(Minister of State, I/C) 12 July 2011 26 May 2014 V. K. Singh (Minister of State, I/C) 27 May 2014 9 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi Jitendra Singh(Minister of State, I/C) 9 November 2014 30 May 2019 31 May 2019 7 July 2021 Modi II G. Kishan Reddy 7 July 2021 9 June 2024 Jyotiraditya Scindia 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III
Ministers of State
PortraitMinisterTerm of officePolitical party MinistryPrime Minister From To Period Tapan Sikdar 29 January 2003 22 May 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee B. L. Verma 7 July 2021 9 June 2024 Bharatiya Janata Party Modi II Narendra Modi Sukanta Majumdar 10 June 2024 Incumbent Modi III
Northeast India connectivity projects
Commerce with South and East Asian nations accounts for almost 45% of India's foreign trade. Myanmar and ASEAN nations are part of India's Look East policy. India is part of ASEAN+6, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Asian Clearing Union, Asian Development Bank, Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative, BIMSTEC, East Asia Summit, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation, SAARC, South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Asian Highway Network and the Trans-Asian Railway network.
Major initiatives covered are Transport between India and Bangladesh, Bangladesh–India border, India-Myanmar barrier, Bhutan–India border, McMahon Line, etc.
Bridges
List of road bridges on Brahmaputra River
Roads
International roads NE has 5,000 km border with Nepal, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh and Myanmar while being isolated and connected to rest of India by 20 km narrow chicken-neck Siliguri Corridor. Asian Highway Network ASEAN and Look East connectivity
Strategic National Highways (NH) 13,500 km were NH out of total 3,76,819 km of road length in NE (March 2012). Schemes: Bharatmala and NH Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) plan for NE and Look East connectivity. Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North East (SARDP-NE) plan for the China border roads. Funding: Total approved (A+B): (until Dec 2017). A. 3,840 km approved and 1,266 km completed (2014 to Dec 2017).Live PM Modi in Meghalaya, Mizoram and North East, Financial Express, 16 Dec 2017.PM Modi approves new central scheme to plug infras gaps for the Northeast, Economic Times, 16 Dec 2017.Arunachal Dy CM Lays Foundation Stone of Bridge over Bari River , North East Today, 11 Dec 2017. additional funding released to ensure completion by March 2023 of current NE NH projects by plugging the gap, on 100% centre-funding basis, instead of usual 90:10 centre-state funding mechanism (Dec 2017). B. additional approved under Bharatmala for NE NH (Dec 2017). Routes: Major NE NH route map and SARDP Arunachal roads map. Highways: Arunachal Frontier Highway 2,000 km route along the China border in upper Himalayas, Trans-Arunachal Highway NH13 1,559 km route through the middle via 12 district HQ while connecting the remaining 4 district HQ with link highways, at (c. 2008) under SARDP-NE.Is hectic highway building in Arunachal Pradesh leading to more landslides?, Scroll, 14 July 2017.Transarunachal highway upgraded, Indian Express. Northeast border roads: NHIDCL launched in 2015 building of 100 strategic 7,000 km long border roads at the cost of across India including in Arunachal (Dec 2017 update). BRO border roads: — 73 border roads: incl. Sikkim and Arunachal, all to be completed by March 2022 (June 2017)."73 roads of operational significance being built along China border: Kiren Rijiju", The Economic Times, 18 July 2017.Sushant Singh, "China border roads hobbling, 12 years later, 21 of 73 ready", Indian Express, 11 July 2017. — 410 border bridges: - 144 in Arunachal (75 under construction completing by 2020), - 40 in Sikkim under construction (Dec 2017).India building bridges in Arunachal for LAC access, Economic Times, 18 Dec 2017. — 17 border rail and road tunnels: total length of 100 km, - Arunachal (Nechipu Pass (near Bomdila) and Sela Pass tunnels on Bogibeel Assam to Sagalee to Tawang NH13), - North Sikkim (578 meter Theng Pass tunnel on NH310A between Chungthang and Tung) (Dec 2017)."For year-round border security, India plans tunnels on China border.", Economic Times, 6 November 2017. Arunachal East-West Corridor along the Assam border in the lower foothills (marked in red) is being taken under Bharatmala project. 2,570 km approved NH (1917+653 in-progress and completed) in Arunachal, 36% road connectivity, 22 km per 100 km2 Arunachal road density including dirt tracks (c. Nov 2017).Lessons from Sisen and laptap, Arunachal Times, 14 Nov 2017.
Other roads North Eastern Council inter-state projects and roads: 47 new inter-state roads of 1,666 km costing , of which 4 were taken within plan ending March 2017. 2014 to Dec 2017: projects executed, to rise in the annual budget. 56 to 138 increase in the number of projects, incl. Bramputra Study Centre established to research river ecosystem. PMGSY roads in NE, including border village roads]. Relaxation to be given to the minimum 250 people habitation in case of villages within 50 km of border.
Railway Northeast railway connectivity projects Trans-Asian Railway NER railways, In December 2017, 15 new NE railway projects of 1,385 km length were approved at the cost of . Sivok–Rangpo line, 44 km long, to Gangtok in Sikkim. Tetelia–Byrnihat line, 22 km long, from Guwahati's suburb Tetelia to Byrnihat near Shillon in Meghalaya is likely to be completed by March 2022. Dimapur–Kohima line, 82 km long, to Kohima In Nagaland is expected to be completed by March 2023. Jiribam–Imphal line, 111 km long, to Imphal is likely to be completed by March 2022.North East to get better Indian Railways connectivity! 5 major rail projects lined up, Financial Express, July 17, 2020. Bairabi–Sairang line, 51 km long, to Aizawl in Mizoram is likely to be completed by March 2023.
Air Airports development NER Airports. The Indian government upgraded 12 non-operational airports into operational airports in NE (May 2017, work started on 8 airports in 2014).12 airports in Northeast India set to get a boost, North East Today, 14 May 2017. LGBIA Guwahati will operate as the inter-regional hub and Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, Dibrugarh Airport and Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal, will operate as intra-regional hubs by extending runways and apron, and by building terminal building and maintenance hangars at these airports. Three new greenfield under-construction airports are Itanagar Holangi Airport, Pakyong Airport-Operationalized (Sikkim) and Chiethu Airport (Nagaland).Government Considering Setting up of Three Greenfield Airports in Northeast, NDTV, 13 Aug 2014.
Airports development phase-I (F.Y 2016-17 to F.Y 2019-20) Airports Authority of India (AAI) will spend between 2018 and 2020, including the following will be completed by 2019-20 (c. Dec 2017):Steps taken to strengthen North East states air connectivity: Authority of India, Economic Times, 18 Dec 2017.Northeast airports facelift: Government may invest Rs 8,000 crore more, Economic Times, 20 Dec 2017. Assam Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati has reached its most defining milestone with the successful opening of its state-of-the-art Terminal 2 (T2) on February 22, 2026.In February 2019, the airport was given on lease for 50 years' ownership to Adani Group, at the highest bid of ₹ 160 per passenger Guwahati airport to be upgraded for international operations, Economic Times, 19 Dec 2017. Arunachal Pradesh Donyi Polo Airport is fully operational Tezu Airport infrastructure upgrade has been fully completed and operationalized at a total cost of ₹170 crore with terminal building was built to handle up to 300 peak-hour passengers, featuring 5 check-in counters and 2 arrival carousels Tripura Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala is the second-busiest aviation hub in Northeast India after Guwahati, Kailashahar Airport upgrade for UDAN flights, 138 km from Agartala. Meghalaya Shillong Airport s undergoing a massive ₹119.44 crore infrastructure expansion that will finally allow narrow-body commercial jets to land.
Airports development phase-II (2018-Ongoing) The central government will invest a further to develop more NR airports. Several advanced landing ground heliports will be upgraded to dual army-civilian airports. This likely includes the following:China border upgrade: 6 airports in Arunachal, Indian Express, 2015. Arunachal Pradesh Along Airport is a military airfield owned and operated by the Indian Air Force Anini Airport, Government of Arunachal Pradesh officially launched a greenfield airport project Daporijo Airport is a non-operational historical airstrip under the control of the Indian Air Force Koloriang Airport a newly upgraded heliport infrastructure Pasighat Airport is a dual-use military and civilian facility operating as an Advanced Landing Ground for the Indian Air Force alongside scheduled regional commercial flights Tawang Airport its aviation needs are fully managed by the Tawang Advanced Landing Ground (ALG), which operates exclusively as a strategic heliport Zero Airport is a fully operational domestic airport and Advanced Landing Ground Assam Rupsi Airport is a fully operational domestic airport Sikkim Pakyong Airport is Sikkim's only operational airport Nagaland Chiethu Airport s a planned greenfield facility that remains in the pre-construction planning stage due to long-standing terrain and political disputes
Flights