SHILLONG, JUN 19: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday told policymakers and development partners that the Northeast has shifted from the margins to the centre of India’s growth narrative and will be pivotal to realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
She was inaugurating a two-day Conference on “Leveraging Externally Aided Projects in North-Eastern States” in Shillong, organised by the Department of Economic Affairs under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The event drew Chief Ministers from Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, alongside senior officials from the Government of India and representatives of the World Bank, ADB, AIIB, IFAD, NDB, JICA and NITI Aayog.
Sitharaman noted that externally aided projects have become a vital source of financing for the region, funding roads, power, water supply, tourism and social infrastructure.
She said the real challenge now is not just securing funds, but building institutions and implementation capacity that can turn investments into lasting outcomes.
For that, she called for closer Centre-state alignment, faster execution, and systematic sharing of lessons across states.
The Finance Minister stressed that the next phase of development will be shaped as much by people and partnerships as by money.
She pointed to the region’s youth, entrepreneurial energy and women leaders as key drivers, and urged greater investment in skills and women-led enterprises.
She also asked states to treat multilateral and bilateral financing as a channel for global expertise and innovation, not only capital.
Tourism, logistics, agribusiness, food processing, renewable energy, digital services and manufacturing were highlighted as areas with strong private investment potential that can create jobs and add value locally.
Sitharaman linked these opportunities to ongoing improvements in transport, digital and power connectivity, saying better networks are tying communities to markets and strengthening India’s Act East Policy.
She described the Northeast’s ecological and cultural heritage as a strategic asset, one that positions the region to lead in eco-tourism, climate-resilient agriculture and green development.
But she cautioned that progress must be inclusive, with no district or community left behind, and institutions designed to deliver benefits well after projects close.
Day one of the conference featured technical sessions by DEA, World Bank, ADB and NITI Aayog, and states presented experiences from projects like Tripura’s urban and tourism initiatives, Assam’s secondary roads program, Manipur’s integrated water supply, and Mizoram’s FOCUS 2.0.
The discussions centred on execution, community participation and climate resilience.
On day two, participants will examine solutions to common implementation hurdles using examples from Meghalaya’s community and landscape management work, Assam’s healthcare augmentation project, and Nagaland’s forest management program.
“The future of the Northeast is not a story waiting to be written; it is a story that is already unfolding,” Sitharaman said, urging sustained collaboration to convert the region’s potential into prosperity and its connectivity into opportunity.
