NEW DELHI, Aug 2 - The North East Industrial Promotion Policy may be defunct, but the Assam Government has sought a 10-year extension of the policy.
Demanding the extension, State Industries Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that Assam may become a favourite investment destination, if the policy, which is currently under suspension, is extended for 10 more years. The policy is scheduled to expire in 2017.
Assam�s industrial scenario will be revolutionised if an extension is given to the policy, said Patowary, who was participating in an interactive session between the North East MPs� Forum and industrialists of the Northeast at the Constitution Club of India here last evening.
Patowary also advocated promotion of smaller airports in Assam to improve connectivity. Flight operations should be started in routes like Guwahati-North Lakhimpur and Tezpur-Jorhat, he said. The minister also called for night halt of aircraft in Guwahati, stating that the airport has the infrastructure to handle this.
Addressing the meeting, DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that Guwahati airport should be developed as a helicopter hub of the Northeast and a helicopter service connecting smaller cities and towns of the region should be promoted. In the Northeast, intra-regional connectivity is not much of a problem unlike inter-regional connectivity, he opined.
The meeting, chaired by North East MPs� Forum president Bhubaneswar Kalita, however, saw poor attendance of MPs as many of the parliamentarians from the region kept away from the interactive session.
