National Design Institute to come up at Jorhat

The government will set up a national institute of design at Jorhat, on the lines of the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad. This will be one of the four such institutes of design that are coming up across the country, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said.

These institutes of global excellence will involve investments of Rs150 crore and offer graduate training to over 1,000 students in a few years time, he added.

Meanwhile, the minister said, the government has made huge investments in the North Eastern Region through massive allocations for building physical infrastructure. Border Area Development Programme and substantial Plan allocations have ensured connectivity to each village and habitation of this region, he said. The government has taken up an ambitious programme of construction of roads under the special accelerated road development programme for the North East and substantial amount is being invested during the 11th Plan period, he added.

Besides, the minister said, the government is investing Rs6,000 crore for setting up the Tipaimukh Hydro Electric Project,  Rs8,000 crore for construction of Loktat Downstream project, Rs3,000 core for the Palatana gas-based power plant and Rs4,375 crore for setting up a thermal power plant at Bongaigaon.

The Kumarghat-Agartala railway line will have a transformational impact on the economy of North East as will Jiribam-Tupu-Imphal railway line, the ministerv said while addressing the North-East trade and industry ministers conclave in New Delhi.

The 11th Plan has earmarked Rs230 crore for allocation through the Tea Board for assisting modernisation of plant and value addition of tea gardens in the North-Eastern states. Besides, Assam tea will get special fiscal incentives of 3.5 per cent of the value of export under the Vishesh Krishi Gram Udyog Yojana, which entailed a net benefit of Rs150 crore for tea exports.