WB team meets CM

$ 300 million APART project

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Sept 14: A World Bank team called on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at his official residence late evening today and apprised him about the project preparation works on the $ 300 million Assam Project on Agri Business and Rural Transformation (APART).

Nieuwkoop, Practice Mager, South Asia Region, World Bank, said the project would bring knowledge, technology and expertise to bolster rural development in the State. The project aims at market-led production, farm-level value addition, enterprise production, farm to market infrastructure and market development to stimulate rural transformation.

Chief Minister Gogoi said the cluster development approach under the project is a step in the right direction that would eble the farmers to reap optimum benefits.

Gogoi assured the World Bank team of his Government's all possible support and cooperation for successful implementation of the project

It may be mentioned that the World Bank has approved the new project following the successful implementation of three earlier projects - ARIASP, AACP and AACP - Additiol Funding - that resulted in increase in farm productivity, all-time high yield of rice and paddy, fishery and diary development. The project preparation works will be completed within a year.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Animesh Shrivastava, Program Leader, WB, New Delhi, Manivann Pathy, Task Team Leader for Assam Project, WB and , V.B. Pyarelal, Additiol Chief Secretary.