Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurates Several Major Projects at Jamugurihat

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR: Giving a new impetus to the journey of rural economic and industrial development in Sonitpur district, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday took part in several programmes in the Jamugurihat area under Naduar constituency and formally inaugurated a series of important projects.

Chief Minister Dr Sarma inaugurated the dairy processing project at the Kanyaka Marketing Complex at Shantipur, Jamugurihat, constructed under the Chief Minister’s Samagra Gramya Unnayan Yojana. He also formally launched a tile manufacturing unit of Allemby Ceramics Private Limited at Dighali Chapori.

Speaking at a meeting held on the occasion, Chief Minister Dr Sarma said that the doors of Eastern India’s first glazed vitrified tile manufacturing project, Allembai Ceramics Private Limited, have been opened at Dighali Chapori in Naduar, through a joint venture of the Lohiya Group, one of the leading business groups of the Northeast, and the Vermora Group, one of India’s leading ceramic brands. He said that the mega industrial unit has been established with an investment of approximately Rs 250 crore on 100 bighas of land, using China clay sourced from the Karbi Hills for manufacturing tiles.

The Chief Minister said that there was a time when Assam’s agricultural and mineral resources were transported outside the State, where industries were subsequently established using those resources. That situation is now changing, he said. Referring to the recent inauguration of a PepsiCo chips manufacturing plant in Nalbari using potatoes grown in Assam, he said that a tile manufacturing factory using Assam’s own China clay has now been established at Dighali Chapori. The industry will provide direct employment to 325 young people and indirect employment to more than 1,000 persons.

On the Kanyaka Project, the Chief Minister said that the 20,000-litre milk chilling and processing project, initiated with financial assistance from the Government of Assam and the efforts of Kanyaka, will be developed jointly with Bihar’s COMFED, or Sudha. He expressed hope that this initiative would increase the income of dairy farmers and play an important role in making Assam more self-reliant in milk production.

Referring to the shortage of land for setting up industries in Assam in the past, the Chief Minister said that a substantial portion of Assam’s land was under the occupation of encroachers. Over the last five years, the State Government has reclaimed 1.5 lakh bighas of land from encroachers and put it to use for the benefit of the Forest Department and the people.

Speaking on the rapid development of the state’s connectivity infrastructure, the Chief Minister said that alongside the construction of four-lane highways from Guwahati to Gohpur, from Baihata Chariali to Mission Chariali, and from Dhalpur through Lakhimpur to Bogibeel, work on the Gohpur-Numaligarh Tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra will commence very soon. He said that these improved transportation links would transform Tezpur, Choukighat, and Naduar into a central location in Assam, and the region would soon emerge as a hub of industrialisation and a centre of excellence in the State.

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