Northeast is India's economic corridor: Jitender Singh

Describing the northeast as the "economic corridor of India", Minister of State for Development of the Northeastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh on Saturday asked leaders of the business community to become active participants in its development.

He said ever since he was entrusted the responsibility of looking after the DoNER ministry, he has learnt that in a country like India known for its diversity, northeast is the best example of "diversity within diversity".

He was addressing the inaugural session of the Northeast Business Summit hosted by the ministry in collaboration with Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here.

Senior government representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar are participating in this summit.

Referring to several new initiatives undertaken by him, Singh said beginning from January this year, he has introduced the practice of holding a camp secretariat office by rotation every month in each of the eight states of northeast.

This, he said, will send out a loud message to the people of northeast that they do not need to travel to New Delhi each time when they have a grievance.

Inspired by the prime minister's "Make in India" initiative, the minister said, a concept paper titled "Make in Northeast" has been prepared and he is personally trying to reach out to industrial houses to promote organic farming and food processing which will generate revenue as well as employment in the region.

He appealed to leaders of the business community, including ICC, to become active participants in this initiative and to inspire potential investors and entrepreneurs to supplement the DoNER ministry's efforts in the region.

"This will not only help in promoting industry and business but will also bridge the psychological barriers and bring northeast closer to mainstream India's brisk march on the road to development and growth", he observed.