Northeast can emerge as a hub for rubber production: Union Minister Goyal
Addressing the gathering, Goyal said that Tripura is the second-largest producer of rubber in the country, with an area of 30,000 hectares under cultivation, and urged the state government to take advantage as the early harvester to expand rubber plantations in the state.
AGARTALA:
Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, on December 9, addressed the ‘Destination Tripura - Investment Summit’ through video conferencing, wherein he revealed the central government plans to make Northeast the rubber production hub of the country, with over 2 lakh hectares of rubber plantation planned in the next five years.
Addressing the gathering, Goyal said that Tripura is the second-largest producer of rubber in the country, with an area of 30,000 hectares under cultivation, and urged the state government to take advantage as the early harvester to expand rubber plantations in the state.
He informed that four major tyre companies represented by Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) have together undertaken to contribute Rs.1,000 crores for rubber plantation development in 200,000 hectares of land in the seven states of Northeast, over a period of five years.
The funding is a part of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Rubber Board and ATMA on 1 March 2021, whereby participating tyre companies together transferred Rs 12 crores to the account set up by Rubber Board on 20 May 2021. Funds provided by the tyre companies are being used for procuring planting materials for commencing planting in 2021.
Besides rubber plantation, Goyal also highlighted the huge potential for bamboo cultivation in the region, the thriving handloom industry, jackfruit exports as some of the areas where Tripyura has excelled in particular and Northeast in general.
Applauding the development journey of Tripura under the able leadership of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, he said, “The state government has been working tirelessly giving priority to 3 ‘N’s in administration, namely Niyat, Niti & Niyam.”
To expedite the growth further, Goyal said the cross-border Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail project worth Rs.972 crore will help promote exports. “With Agartala airport emerging as the 2nd busiest airport in the NE region, Tripura will act as a Gateway to the North East,” he said.
Stating that the Investment Summit will help Tripura realize its true potential, Goyal hoped the Conference will help investors become partners in the development journey of the state.
While speaking in the event the Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that earlier the Northeast had always been neglected by the central government’s developmental policies, but since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s total focus on is the holistic development of NE and it's the result of his visionary leadership that we can organize this summit.
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