Its boom time for the North-East, and how! Reports indicate that Rs 384,426 lakh crore has been spent on several infrastructure development projects to improve – road and air connectivity, railways network, waterways, telecom, and power. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh termed the Union Budget 2023-24 as growth-oriented; that it will help in achieving the government’s goal of making India a $5 trillion economy within a few years. The Budget for FY2023-24 envisaged a total outlay of Rs 4,503,097 crore. Of this, Ministry of Defence has been allocated a total Budget of Rs 593,537.64 crore, which is 13.18 per cent of the total budget. A release from the PIB (Defence Wing), Government of India, indicates that from the Budget, “Capital allocations pertaining to modernisation and infrastructure development of the Defence Services has been increased to Rs 1,62,600 crore representing a rise of Rs 10,230 crore (6.7 per cent) over FY2022-23. This increase is a reflection of the government’s commitment towards sustainable augmentation in the area of modernisation and infrastructure development of the Defence services.

Also, Ministry of Defence is committed towards infrastructure strengthening in the border areas, particularly the Northern borders. Accordingly, the Capital Budget of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been increased by 43 per cent to Rs 5,000 crore in FY23-24 as against Rs 3,500 crore in FY22-23. Also, the allocation under this segment has doubled in two years since FY21-22. This is expected to boost the Border infrastructure thereby creating strategically important assets such as the Sela Tunnel, Nechipu Tunnel, and Sela-Chhabrela Tunnel, and will also enhance border connectivity...

To delve into the opportunities, CW reached out to Border Roads Organisation; National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation; North East Frontier Railway; Airports Authority of India, North Eastern Region; and North-East Regional Advisory Council, FICCI. Read on to know more from the experts. It seems to be a promising time for the construction and infrastructure industry to invest in the region and contribute to its growth and development – we agree.

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