Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Centre is implementing several rail, road and air connectivity projects worth Rs 1,34,200 crore in the northeast region. During the Natural Allies in Development and Interdependence conclave, she said that the government had been investing huge money in developing many infrastructure projects in the region. The government is carrying out 20 railway projects worth Rs 74,000 crore for 2,011 km, spread across the northeast. It is also developing 4,000 km of roads worth Rs 58,000 crore in the region. She said that there are 15 ongoing air connectivity projects in the northeast of around Rs 2,200 crore. The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Routes have been increased from eight to 10. These Protocol Routes are reviewed every five years. The Minister said work is being carried out to develop the National Waterways on the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Barak rivers. India and Bangladesh have 50 riverine systems leveraged for all types of transportation purposes, as travelling through water is the least compared to air, road and rail networks. She added that the government is also developing the National Waterways-1 on the Ganges, NW-2 on Brahmaputra and NW-16 on Barak rivers. The entire region between Sadiya and Dhubri in Assam along the Brahmaputra river is being developed for better connectivity. Sitharaman said that the government is building a multimodal hub on the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati, including a ship repairing port at Pandu, four tourist jetties and 11 floating terminals. After completion of the Eastern Waterways Connectivity Transport Grid, it will offer seamless connectivity between the northeast, sub-continent, and across India. It will offer 5,000 km of navigable waterways. The government with the World Bank is offering big connectivity solutions by removing bottlenecks from the projects. She added that the government is also developing several projects focusing on power transmission and distribution, mobile networks, 4G solutions and broadband connectivity in the northeast. Image Source Also read: Ministry of Finance announces key schemes to boost economy