Only 0.5 per cent of total pvt investment made so far in NE

Agartala, Nov 7 (UNI) Minister for Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER) Mani Shankar Aiyar today lamented that only 0.5 per cent of total private investment of the country had been pulled in the Northeast so far, while several entrepreneurs availed the subsidy benefit initiating industries.

Talking to UNI here, Mr Aiyar said, '' Unless local entrepreneurs are going on partnership with outside investors, the pace of development in the Northeast wil not improve substantially. '' He underlined that the UPA Government was forced to implement the most attractive North East Industrial Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP)-2007 replacing earlier one just to ensure the investment mechanism.

Mr Aiyar said the Centre was forced to relate NEIIPP 2007 with excise duty payment to the states just to ensure the path for actual investors and it was no way affecting prospect of industrial investment in the region.

'' The recent blasts in Assam followed by Agartala will not hamper the investment prospect in the Northeast and it may be a concern on security point of view, but the Centre has already taken measure to deal with the situation, '' Mr Aiyar reaffirmed.

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