Every NE state is ready for investment, leadership: PM

From Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, May 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday applauded the Northeastern state for declaring readiness for investment and leadership, while inaugurating the Rising Northeast Investors Summit 2025.
PM Modi said that the region, once synonymous with “bombs, guns and blockades”, is now witnessing unprecedented progress. He highlighted that the region stands for bio-economy and the bamboo industry, tea and petroleum, sports and skill development, eco-tourism, organic products, and a powerhouse of energy.
Recognising this diversity and potential, he called the Northeast India’s “Ashtalakshmi.”
The two-day event highlights investment opportunities in Northeast India, following pre-summit road shows, roundtables, and bilateral meets. Organised by the central government with state support, the summit aims to boost regional development and attract global partnerships to the Northeast.
All major industrial houses like Reliance, Adani Group and Vedant conglomerate announced billions of rupees of investment in the summit itself. All the Chief Ministers, including Meghalaya’s Conrad Sangma, Governors and senior heads of institutions like that of NEC attended the two-day summit beginning Friday.
“On this grand podium of Rising Northeast (Summit), I feel a sense of pride, warmth, belonging, and above all, immense confidence in the future. So many industry leaders have gathered here, which shows the enthusiasm, excitement, and new dreams that everyone has for the Northeast,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that the Northeast is the most diverse part of this diverse nation. From trade to tradition, from textiles to tourism, the diversity of the Northeast is its greatest strength, he said.
“Northeast means bio-economy and bamboo; Northeast means tea production and petroleum; Northeast means sports and skill; Northeast is emerging as a hub of eco-tourism; Northeast represents a new world of organic products; Northeast is a powerhouse of energy,” Modi added.
Prime Minister said that transformation that the Northeast has seen in the last 11 years is not just about numbers — it is change that can be felt on the ground.
We have not just built a connection with the Northeast through government schemes — we have built a bond from the heart.
“We moved beyond the Look East policy to embrace the mantra of Act East, and today, we are seeing the results. There was a time when the Northeast was only referred to as a frontier region. Today, it is becoming the front-runner of growth,” he said
Dishing out success stories, Modi said “In just one decade, we have built 11,000 kilometres of new highways in the Northeast. Hundreds of kilometres of new railway lines have been laid. The number of airports in the Northeast has doubled. Waterways are being developed on the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.”
He stated that in the coming decade, the trade potential of the Northeast would grow manifold. “Today, the trade volume between Bharat and ASEAN is around $125 billion. In the coming years, it will surpass $200 billion, and the Northeast will become a strong bridge for this trade — a gateway to ASEAN,” Modi said.
Indirectly referring to the ongoing strained ties with Bangladesh, Modi said that Bharat-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway will establish direct connectivity to Thailand through Myanmar. This will ease Bharat’s connectivity with countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.
“Our government is also working swiftly to complete the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Project, which will connect the Kolkata Port to Sittwe Port in Myanmar, and further link the rest of the Northeast via Mizoram. This will significantly reduce the distance between West Bengal and Mizoram and prove to be a major boon for industry and trade,” he pointed out.
DoNER Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia hosted the summit.
It may be mentioned that top industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani will invest more money to develop their projects in the Northeast region, according to their separate statements.
The Adani Group will invest Rs 500 billion over the next decade to develop infrastructure, including roads and highways, as well as green energy projects such as hydro and pumped storage, Chairman Gautam Adani said.
Reliance Chairman Ambani also made similar investments in the region.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group announced an investment of Rs 80,000 crore for the transformation of states across the Northeast, asserting that the region will continue its progress and become the “growth engine of new India”. Agarwal announced this while addressing the inaugural session of the Summit.

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