The Assam Government is targeting a GSDP figure of $75 billion or nearly 6.15 trillion in Indian rupee by 2025. This growth would be led by a thrust on connectivity, infrastructure, and policy support. This was stated by Principal Secretary, Finance, Government of Assam Samir Sinha at the two-day conclave organised by the Pratidin Media Network in New Delhi recently.
He said that Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has outlined a vision to take Assam among the top five States in India.
He spoke of the reform measures undertaken in Assam and those in store to make this vision successful. Sinha highlighted the impressive 12.58% Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) clocked by the State between 2016-2021.
Drawing the attention of the gathering, Sinha, who is also the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, said that Assam has leapfrogged to the Achievers category along with advanced coastal States by achieving over 90% score in the Leads22 rankings.
He emphasised the importance of private sector investment to fuel the economy. Justifying the limitation of public spending-led growth, he said that unless consumption, income and remittances show marked improvement, sustaining a government-fuelled spending growth of an economy like Assam becomes difficult. He compared Assam’s scenario to that of other States like Jharkhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, and Maharashtra to draw this conclusion.
Sinha outlined the importance of rapid urbanisation in the State to attract investment by highlighting how China became a darling of investors across the world through its singular focus on urbanisation.
The senior bureaucrat highlighted why Assam is an ideal choice for investors to come. He said that the State is at the centre of 1.88 billion consumers in ASEAN and BBIN markets. He said that Assam has 1.3 billion MT of proven oil resources, four refineries with capacity of 7.1 MM TPA and 156 billion cubic metre of natural gas reserves.
Sinha spoke about the seven operational airports, Assam which would soon act as hub of air traffic emanating from and to SE Asia and the extensive network of roads and highways as well as the inland waterways.
Citing the case of the industrial growth centre in Matia in Dhubri, the Principal Secretary highlighted that it was the only industrial park in India with access to four countries within 750 km range where India’s total exports is $17 billion.
Earlier, inaugurating the conclave, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the importance of the development of North East India as the country advances in its quest to become self-reliant or atma nirbhar.
