685 DoNER Projects Face Delays, Over 300 Lagging by More Than Three Years

Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Oct 6: The central government's push for rapid development of the north-eastern region is apparently not showing the desired result on the ground. This is evident in the delayed implementation of infrastructure projects worth several thousands of crore of rupees in the region.

Consider the projects under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

As of August 31, 2026, 685 projects worth Rs 12,693.66 crore under various schemes of DoNER are running behind schedule.

Of these 685 projects, 326 are behind their scheduled date of completion by more than three years, while 207 other projects have been delayed by 1-3 years, and 152 by one year or less.

Of the 685 projects behind schedule, the highest number of 316 are under Scheme of NEC, followed by 314 projects under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme Other than Road Infrastructure (NESIDS-OTRI).

The delayed projects are being implemented by the north-eastern states and some central agencies.

What is alarming is that 11 projects under NESIDS-OTRI are running so much behind their original scheduled date of completion that these have been termed "distress". And of these, four are in Assam, three in Tripura, two in Manipur, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Projects that have severely deviated from their original schedule of completion date have been described as "distress projects" by DoNER.

It has to be borne in mind that DoNER only sanctions projects under various schemes, but it is the responsibility of the states concerned and some central agencies to implement them.

The ministry is implementing various schemes for development of north-eastern region, viz, NESIDS-OTRI, the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Roads)-(NESIDS-Roads), schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC), Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North Eastern Region (PM-DevINE) scheme and Special Development packages (SDP).

Among the states of the region, Assam is implementing the highest number (248) of DoNER projects, followed by Manipur (109). 

Amongst the schemes, Scheme of NEC is having maximum number of ongoing projects (429) as of August, 2026, while 356 projects are ongoing under NESIDS-OTRI.

Some of the notable road projects completed in Assam during the month of August 2026 in Assam under PM-DevINE include upgrade/widening of existing 2-lane road to 4-lane road connecting LGB International Airport from VIP junction to Dharapur junction, including i) 4-lane grade separated junction at Dharapur, ii) 2-lane access road from SOS junction to existing terminal building and iii) 2-lane temporary exit from existing terminal building. These projects were worth Rs 271.45 crore.

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