Agartala, Aug 23: The overall development of the North Eastern Region has been emphasized in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Act East Policy’, said Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries- Som Parkash.

Addressing a review meeting in Agartala, the Union Minister on Tuesday said, to improve the economic condition of this region, friendly environment for small industries has to be established.

He chaired the review meeting on North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS) and state’s tea industry at State Guest House, Agartala.

The Union Minister directed the concerned officials to quickly resolve all the shortcomings in setting up small industries in Tripura.

Secretary of Industries and Commerce department- Abhishek Chandra discussed elaborately on NEIDS scheme in the first half of the meeting.

The NEIDS was introduced in April 2017 for 5 years for industrial promotion in the North Eastern Region.

The Secretary emphasized upon simplifying and modernizing the connectivity with Bangladesh and Mayanmar for improving exports and further development of the tourism sector. Rubber, Incense sticks, Agar etc industries were also discussed in the meeting. Representatives of different industrial organizations of the state as well as the country were present in the meeting.

In the second half of the meeting, the state’s tea industry was elaborately discussed. The proposal for setting up a Tea Auction Centre in the state was also discussed. Tea Board of India official Arunima Phukan Yadav informed in the meeting that there is possibility of conducting a meeting in the first half of September. 

The secretary informed that all kinds of assistance will be provided in setting up of the Tea Auction Centre. Apart from that, the matter of restarting tea garden under MGNREGA was also discussed through which small tea growers will be hugely benefitted. Continued supply of required amount of fertilizers, medicines, necessary gas etc., were also discussed in the meeting.

A government press release said, it was also informed in the meeting that tea industry of the state along with the entire North Eastern Region will reap benefit once export of tea is made possible to Bangladesh. The participants of the meeting have urged the Indian and the Bangladesh government to jointly take up on this matter. Tripura Tea Development Corporation chairman Santosh Saha and other officials were present.

According to the government press release, Tripura ranks 6th in the country in terms of tea production. In Tripura, there are 52 tea estates with 10,438 workers. In 2021, Tripura produced 8.81 million kg of tea.

Meanwhile, the Union Minister also had a meeting with Tripura Industries and Commerce minister Santana Chakma. The duo discussed the issues to boost industrial development in the state.