Government working to make Tripura 'Gateway of Northeast': Modi

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Central Government was working on making Tripura the “Gateway of Northeast”. Dozens of projects to improve the road, rail, air and waterways connectivity were going on in the state to achieve the objective, he said.

Inaugurates 13 projects, lays stone for nine in Imphal

• PM Narendra Modi visited Imphal, capital of Manipur where Assembly elections are slated to take place next month
• He inaugurated 13 projects worth Rs1,850 crore and laid stone for nine projects worth Rs2,950 crore in Imphal
• The projects relate to diverse sectors, including road infrastructure, drinking water supply, health, urban development and housing

Notably, the moniker, “Gateway of Northeast”, is normally used for Assam as it connects the N-E states with the rest of the country through road and rail link.

PM Modi, who today inaugurated the new terminal building of the airport in Agartala built at a cost of Rs 3,400 crore, said the Centre was making huge investments in infrastructure building. “Tripura is slated to become the hub of business and trade of the N-E region,” he added.

The PM said besides a three-fold increase in the airport capacity in terms of passenger movement and air traffic, more than a dozen aircrafts could be parked at the airport following the latest changes. The expansion of the airport, named after Tripura’s erstwhile monarch Maharaja Bir Bikram, would give a boost to the air connectivity of the entire N-E region, he said.

The PM said trade and business of the entire NE region would get a big boost when the cold storage, being built at the domestic cargo terminal of the airport, would get ready.

He added that while international water connectivity with Bangladesh gave Tripura a unique advantage, the Central Government was also pressing hard for establishing rail link between Agartala and Akhaura, Bangladesh.

Modi, who was addressing a rally at Agartala’s Swami Vivekananda Maidan, also launched the Tripura Gram Samriddhi Yojana and Project Mission 100 of Vidyajyoti Schools. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb were among those present at the rally.

Earlier in the day, Modi visited Imphal, capital of Manipur where Assembly poll are slated to take place next month. He inaugurated 13 projects worth Rs 1,850 crore and laid the foundation stone for nine projects worth Rs 2,950 crore in Imphal. These projects relate to diverse sectors such as road infrastructure, drinking water supply, health, urban development, housing, information technology, skill development, art and culture, among others.