Assam attracted almost Rs 26,000 investments under NEIIPP

The Assam government today said the state has attracted investment commitments of nearly Rs 26,000 crore under North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), under which registration of new schemes have been suspended.
Informing the House during a discussion in the Assam Assembly, Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said the Centre has suspended all new registration with effect from December 1 citing "revenue deficit".
"So far, Rs 25,780 crore worth of entrepreneur memoranda have been signed since the implementation of the NEIIPP. Out of this, at least Rs 14,000 crore have already been invested in Assam," he added.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given its nod to the NEIIPP on March 29, 2007 for implementing the Policy from April 2007 to March 2017.
"At a time when investments in the state were going up, the Centre suddenly stopped the scheme. When we met the Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, she said the Finance Ministry had informed that they cannot give subsidy due to revenue deficit of the Centre," Bordoloi said.
He said the region usually does not attract big investment proposals in any sector due to its isolated geographical location and absence of a big market, resulting in huge transportation and logistic costs for any investor.

Criticising the move, the Minister asked the BJP MLAs to "stop shedding crocodile tears without doing anything concrete for the state".
Bordoloi also alleged discriminatory attitude of the Central government towards North East and gave examples like stopping subsidised ration for tea garden workers and reducing the funds for MGNREGA scheme.