Rs 1,529 crore central funds lying unspent in NE states
Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS)-Roads, an amount of Rs 1,529 crore is lying unspent in the NE states, including Assam. So, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) has asked all NE states to expedite the ongoing projects.
The 26th meeting of the Empowered Inter-Ministerial Committee (EIMC) for the NESIDS (Roads) scheme was held recently in New Delhi. The decisions taken at the meeting were revealed in an office memorandum of MDoNER dated February 17, 2026.
According to the office memorandum (OM), a total of 120 projects were sanctioned under the NESIDS (Roads) scheme for the eight NE states, with a sanction cost of Rs 5,636 crore. Of the 120 sanctioned projects, 65 have been completed, while 55 are still ongoing. Of the sanctioned funds, an amount of Rs 1,529 crore is lying unspent in the NE states. Among the NE states, Assam has the highest amount of Rs 309.74 crore lying unspent, followed by Nagaland with Rs 309.5 crore, Mizoram with Rs 238 crore, Arunachal Pradesh with Rs 233 crore, Manipur with Rs 182.5 crore, Tripura with Rs 101.7 crore, Meghalaya with Rs 97.7 crore and Sikkim with Rs 56.9 crore.
Under the NESIDS (Roads) scheme, a total of 21 projects with a sanction cost of Rs 1392.57 crore was approved for Assam. Of the 21 projects, 14 have been completed, while 7 are ongoing.
The OM issued by MDoNER stated, “The State Governments were requested to expedite the completion of the ongoing projects, as this is the last year of the current 15th Finance Commission period. They were also requested to send the demand proposals as per the expenditure plans.”
MDoNER’s memorandum was sent to the chief secretaries of all NE states, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, Secretary of MHA, Secretary of the NEC, and others.