The Hindu Business Line : Showcasing the North-East as investment destination

The first impression, they say, may be a lasting one. Perhaps for the first time ever, all the eight States of North-East region, namely, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim, presented a unified face to the outside world at the recent North East India Trade and Opportunities Week in Bangkok, Thailand.

As many as four Chief Ministers of the N-E States, two Central Ministers and other N-E State Ministers made a valiant attempt to project the region as an ideal destination for Thai investments.

While it is too early to know whether anything big is likely to happen in terms of investments in the immediate future, an awareness programme has been launched in right earnest and this should augur well for the region as a whole. And the centre piece of the entire exercise is the new North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007 of the Union Government, presented by the Union Minister of State for Industry, Mr Ashwani Kumar, at the Bangkok meet.

Bio-diversity

A Khasi farmer sprays chemicals in his potato farm on the outskirts of Shillong, capital of Meghalaya. It is one of the largest potato producing States in the north-eastern region.

Presenting the different investment opportunities available in the region, which covers a geographical area of approximately 2,67,760 km, the high level officials highlighted the tremendous bio-diversity of the North-East, particularly in Nagaland, which was yet to be explored.

Projecting the rich bio-diversity of the region in terms of medicinal and aromatic plants, North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd, in a presentation has pointed out that the humidity or precipitation was one of the governing factors not only to the enormous generic diversity, but also for the development of complex and varied eco-systems.

Soil conditions

According to Mr Akbar Ali, Scientist, R&D Centre for Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, NEDFI, the soil types in the valleys of the N-E region were alluvial, laterite, humus rich forest soils, acidic in nature. The soils of the hilly areas are said to be ferruginous, mountain meadow and brown hill soils, with the average rainfall being heavy, varying between 2,000-3,200 mm. As known, in Meghalaya, Cherrapunji witnesses 11,440 mm or more of annual rainfall.

Nagaland potential

Pointing out that Nagaland has made tremendous progress during the last 43 years of its statehood, Mr Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister, said the substantial growth in agriculture needed a corresponding entrepreneurial intervention by both Indian and global investors to convert the potential into economic opportunities. According to him, in 2006, the State’s production of 30,000 tonnes of ginger faced serious marketing problems as the processing industries were not in place.

Mr Rio told newspersons that apart from food products, the State was a veritable botanical garden. “Nagaland has three entries in the Guinness Book of World Records, for the world’s hottest chilli, tallest rice plant and tallest Rhododendron tree”.

Rich in herbal plants

Some of the medicinal plants such as Ginseng and Taxuz Bacata, available in abundance in the hilly regions of the State have enormous commercial potential. Commercial scale farming and processing/distillation of medicinal and aromatic plants such as citronella, lemon grass, geranium, patchouli, and aloe vera, have been successful, according to the Chief Minister.

Commenting on the rich bio-diversity, he said in one village jhum field (shifting cultivation) alone, more than 73 varieties of rice have been documented. The State’s local ‘turmeric’ has curcumin content of over nine per cent, which offered high medicinal value. Nagaland’s mineral resources too have remained untapped, as exploration has just begun. Mr Rio lamented that the mountains of chemical grade limestone, huge reserves of coal, marble and decorative stones, along with the magnetite, nickel-cobalt-chromium were yet to find takers for commercial exploitation.

Pointing out that bamboo, the ‘Wonder Plant’, was another of Nagaland’s abundantly available natural resources, the Chief Minister said the forest produce was receiving the highest attention under the ‘National Bamboo Mission’, both as a ‘resource’ and as an ‘enterprise’.

Bamboo resource

He informed that with the setting up of the Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre at Dimapur, various technologies for wood substitution in the forms of bamboo charcoal and other composite materials were being developed. Nagaland, incidentally, is a major exporter of round logs, veneers, plywood and sawn timber to rest of the country.

Pointing out that the State’s target for bamboo cultivation in the next five years was 50,000 hectares, he said great opportunities were emerging in this sector. “There will be enough bamboo for any investor willing to come and be a partner in our economic adventures with bamboo.”

He has assured full State Government support for creation of a conducive environment for industrial investments.

Infrastructure

On the infrastructure front, Mr Rio said a network of around 10,130 km of roads connect all major towns and villages in Nagaland, of which 474 km comprise National Highways and 974 km State Highways. He disclosed that two integrated infrastructural development (IID) Centres were now in the process of being implemented in Nagaland. He said work on the 50 acre IID Centre at Kiruphema, which was on the Dimapur-Kohima National Highway, has already begun. Land for the second IID Centre at Longnak in Mokokchung district has already been acquired, and appraisal of the project proposal has already begun.

The Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation (NIDC) is implementing both the projects. NIDC is also promoting the agro food processing SEZ near Dimapur (area of 125 acres). The Union Government has recently accorded approval for setting up of two SEZs in Nagaland, which are the only SEZs in the entire North-East.

More Stories on : Economy | States | Events | Newspapers & Publishing | West Bengal

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page