Experts stated on Wednesday that the North-Eastern Region (NER) needs to mobilize more resources and that a surge of private investment is likely to speed up development.
Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, stated at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-launched CSR Connect that the initiative aims to bridge the gap between the corporate sector and the socio-economic development of the North East through impactful initiatives in partnership with the government. The CSR Connect initiative brings corporate investment into social development in the North East.
The minister emphasized that investments will flow into the North East as a result of the Rs 10,000 crore “UNNATI Scheme” that was created for the area.
Ten percent of the Central Ministries’ Gross Budgetary Support is being used in the Northeastern Region (NER) for both ongoing and specially designed programs. This demonstrates the region’s emphasis,” he continued.
The region has been growing at a CAGR of 6.77 percent over the past eight years (2014–15 to 2022–23), which is higher than the 5.43 percent national average.
According to CII, the region made up 2.95 percent of the country’s GDP in 2022–2023 at constant prices.
The Ministry for Development of the North Eastern Region’s Secretary, Chanchal Kumar, IAS, stated that policymakers should take notice of the small amount of CSR contribution in the region.
“The state government should develop a repository of investible projects for each state for attracting CSR investments,” he stated.
Furthermore, during the past ten years, the CSR journey has shifted from a “2% compliance-oriented approach to an increased focus on transparency and impact orientation,” according to R Mukundan, VP, CII, and MD of Tata Chemicals Limited.
