Northeast has been kept at centre of policymaking, says FM Sitharaman

Sitharaman says the Northeast now has the fundamentals in place and is rapidly building digital and semiconductor-ready capabilities with strong policy priority from the Centre

India’s Northeast has been kept at the centre of policy making in terms of development, skills and investments to make up for lack of infrastructure for 40–50 years, and having bridged fundamental requirements, the region is now catching up in building digital capabilities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

 

Interacting with the students at the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology in Kohima, Nagaland, Sitharaman said, “Under PM Modi, northeast gets every priority, even before any other part of the country gets… Northeast is being kept at the top of the priority and that will continue, so that you serve the purpose of being the gateway to Southeast Asia.”

 

The FM said that it was important that the younger generation felt comfortable in handling artificial intelligence and further qualify by acquiring skills from specialists such as in semiconductors. Referring to Tata’s setting up of an Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) facility in Morigaon, Assam, Sitharaman said, “I requested Tatas to come to Nagaland so this place has the advantage of Tatas coming and giving you skills for the semiconductor-related world. It would be a brilliant opportunity,” she added.

 

Sitharaman talked about how BSNL as well as private companies are moving to cover difficult or far-flung parts of the country to provide digital network and connectivity.

 

“We are not just looking at getting the optical fibre cables, reaching all the villages and schools, but we are also looking at the spectrum sharing and usage of spectrum,” she said.

 

The finance minister said that the traditional challenges that the Northeast faced, such as logistics movement to a port or to an airport, are all being bridged.

 

“Everything can happen simultaneously, and in the northeast, I think that era has started… There’s no priority that I’ve set for you… Everything is growing equally,” Sitharaman said.