The DoNER Minister of the Union, Dr. Jitendra Singh told parliament on Wednesday that the NDA government had taken and implemented several initiatives to promote entrepreneurship in the northeast region.
“Steps have been taken to create an environment and a living ecosystem so that entrepreneurs can harness the potential of the region,” said Dr. Singh in Lok Sabha.
He announced that key connectivity projects for rail, air and road connectivity will be completed in the next two to three years.
The development of Inland Waterways National Waterways 2 and National Waterways 16 will enable connection to Haldia via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route and bring great benefits to the ecosystem by reducing costs, he said.
“Bamboo, which has the potential to transform the northeastern economy, has received a boost with the establishment of a biorefinery in Numaligarh, Assam and a bamboo industrial park in Dima Hasao, Assam, with imports reduced to 25% after an increase in import tariffs were using bamboo sticks for agarbattis and amending the Indian Forest Act of 1927, “said Dr. Singh.
He said the institutional framework for promoting entrepreneurship is provided by several institutes in the northeast.
These include the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati; 3 Indian Information Technology Institutes (IIIT) in the region, Hotel Management Institutes in Guwahati and Shillong, Film and Television Institute in Jollang-Rakap (Jote) in Arunachal Pradesh and National Institute of Design (NID) in Jorhat.
Entrepreneurs in the Northeast have benefited from various credit-related programs.
Under the Standup India program, 3,449 loan accounts of SC / ST / female beneficiaries were sanctioned for 714.83 billion rupees, and under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, a total of 1.07.26.209 loan accounts in the 8 northeastern states were opened for 48.868 billion rupees sanctioned.
The Prime Minister’s job creation program has set up 24,455 units and created jobs for 1,95,640 people from 2017 to December 12, 2020.
The Micro and Small Business Loan Guarantee Trust Fund (CGTMSE) approved an amount of Rs.4,684.55 billion for 98,569 guarantees.
Since its inception in November 2018, 83,393 beneficiaries under the interest subsidy program for incremental loans to MSMEs have settled an amount of Rs.21.26 billion.
The Start-up India initiatives aim to encourage entrepreneurship and encourage innovation by creating and enabling an ecosystem. 408 startups were recognized in the northeast.
