Assam Cabinet Clears Rs 24,800 Crore Investment, OBC Status for 37 Tea Communities and More

The Assam Cabinet took a series of wide-ranging decisions on Tuesday, covering industrial investment, water infrastructure, land rights, community welfare, education, and cultural recognition. Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma briefed the media after the meeting.

The Cabinet approved six investment proposals amounting to Rs 24,800 crore, signalling continued efforts to attract large-scale industry to the state. Details of the individual proposals were not immediately disclosed.

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Residents of south-east Guwahati will benefit from a new Rs 1,367-crore water supply project, cleared by the Cabinet to address the area's long-standing water infrastructure gaps.

The Cabinet decided to accord Other Backward Class (OBC) status to 37 tea communities in Assam, some of which are sub-castes of existing communities. The Chief Minister clarified that none of these communities were already included in the OBC or MOBC categories.

The Cabinet approved the distribution of land pattas to 816 families residing in hills in and around Guwahati. The benefit will be limited to three generations of indigenous people. The government has received approximately 12,000 applications in total and will address the remaining cases in due course.

The Cabinet allotted the ten-bigha land of the Zubeen Samadhi Khetra to the Department of Cultural Affairs, which will now take over responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the site.

The Cabinet decided to establish a Scheduled Caste Development Council, though further details on its structure and mandate are yet to be announced.

The under-construction engineering college at Behali will be named after Chabilal Upadhyay. The Cabinet also decided to rename the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College as Barpeta Medical College, with a separate institution to be named in honour of the former President.

The Mising community's festival Ali Aye Ligang has been declared a state holiday, recognising the cultural significance of the celebration for one of Assam's prominent indigenous communities.

The Cabinet decided to extend the PM SVANidhi scheme — which provides financial support to street vendors — beyond municipal areas to now include gaon panchayat areas, broadening its reach to rural vendors across the state.