Sonowal says Northeast now a key engine of India’s growth

The Northeast is rapidly transforming into India’s key gateway to Southeast Asia, driven by massive improvements in connectivity and infrastructure over the last decade, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, he described the region’s progress as one of the most significant stories of India’s recent development, crediting the change to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focused approach and long-term commitment to the area.

Sonowal said the Northeast, once held back by decades of limited investment and poor connectivity, is now emerging as a major centre powering India’s economic rise. He highlighted that the Act East Policy has played a crucial role in this shift, turning the region into a logistics and cultural bridge to Southeast Asia. According to him, integrated check posts, strengthened border infrastructure, and multi-modal transport networks linking railways, highways and waterways are redefining the region’s strategic and economic importance.

The minister said the transformation is visible across sectors, particularly in transportation. All major rail gauge conversions in the region have been completed, connecting Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram to the broad-gauge network. For the first time, regular goods and passenger trains are reaching deep into the region’s interiors, reducing isolation and boosting trade.

He noted landmark infrastructure projects such as the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge in Assam, commissioned in 2018, and the Bhairabi-Sairang rail link in Mizoram, inaugurated earlier this year, which have significantly expanded regional access.

Sonowal added that four more capital connectivity rail projects are progressing in Nagaland, Manipur, Sikkim and Meghalaya. He recalled that the India-Bangladesh Agartala-Akhaura rail link, jointly inaugurated by the prime ministers of both nations in November 2023, has strengthened cross-border movement and opened new avenues for trade and people-to-people ties.

Highway development has also accelerated sharply, he said, with over 11,000 km of national and strategic roads upgraded across the Northeast in the past decade. Air travel, too, has undergone what he described as a “revolution”. The number of operational airports in the region has more than doubled from nine in 2014 to 19 today. New greenfield airports at Pakyong and Hollongi, along with upgraded terminals at Tezu, Rupsi and Agartala, have broadened connectivity under the UDAN regional aviation scheme. Additionally, new heliports and water aerodromes are extending access to remote and previously underserved districts.

Sonowal emphasised that this surge in development reflects what he called Prime Minister Modi’s “deep trust” in the people of the Northeast. He said the prime minister has emerged as the “grand architect” of a new, confident and resurgent region, transforming what was once considered a distant border area into a vibrant growth engine central to India’s future.