A total of Rs 159 billion has been allocated to the North Eastern States over the past five years under schemes of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), as per the Revised Estimates. The programmes include PM-DevINE, Schemes of the North Eastern Council, NESIDS (Roads), NESIDS (Other Than Roads Infrastructure), Special Development Packages and the North East Entrepreneurs Development Scheme.

During FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25, Rs 98.7 billion was released to states and central agencies. Assam received the highest share at Rs 23.1 billion, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 12.03 billion), Meghalaya (Rs 12.31 billion), Nagaland (Rs 11.37 billion), Mizoram (Rs 8.19 billion), Sikkim (Rs 7.63 billion), Manipur (Rs 7.2 billion) and Tripura (Rs 7 billion). Central agencies received Rs 9.96 billion.

Despite difficult terrain, short working seasons, land constraints and material supply issues, fund utilisation by states has been 62 per cent. Proposals for releases are processed after states upload demand letters and supporting documents on the Poorvottar Vikas Setu (PVS) portal, which also hosts utilisation and completion certificates. To strengthen monitoring, the ministry has deployed Project Quality Monitors, Third-Party Technical Inspections and Field Level Technical Support Units in each state to track progress, resolve bottlenecks and upload site photographs through the Gatishakti project management platform.

To improve disbursal efficiency, funds for sanctioned projects are now released in four instalments of 25 per cent each. Project evaluation across schemes is carried out under NITI Aayog’s Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework.

This information was provided by the Minister of State for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Sukanta Majumdar, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.