Guwahati: The 2025-26 Union Budget has significantly increased funding for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), allocating Rs 5,915 crore.
This represents a 47 percent rise from the previous allocation of Rs 4,006 crore in the 2024-25 budget.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting her budget in the Parliament on Saturday, increased the budgetary allocation for DoNER.
The DoNER ministry is responsible for matters relating to planning, execution and monitoring of development schemes and projects in the North Eastern Region (NER). Funds allocated to DoNER ministry are utilised for the overall development of the region.
The allocated budget of Rs 5915.00 crore to DoNER would be spent through different central sector schemes, central pool of resources for Northeast and Sikkim, North East Enterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS), and Special Development Packages for three different territorial and autonomous councils among others.
Other initiatives that will indirectly benefit the northeastern region include expansion to 120 new destinations, including enhanced connectivity for the region, under the UDAN — the regional connectivity scheme.
There will be a focus on smaller airports and helipads in hilly and remote districts to boost regional air travel, with a target to carry four crore passengers in the next 10 years.
The additional 0.5 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) borrowing will allow the states to implement electricity distribution and augment intra-state transmission, and it is expected to improve energy availability and reliability in the northeast.
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For “aatmanirbharta” in urea production, the government has reopened three dormant urea plants in the eastern region. To further augment the urea supply, a plant with an annual capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tons will be set up at Assam’s Namrup.
Under the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana, 100 agri-districts have been covered, including some from the Northeast.
