CONNECTING THE NORTHEAST LOGISTICS OPPORTUNITY

Improving supply chain infrastructure in the Northeast will not only be beneficial for the region, but for the nation as well

- Bhairavi Jani

The Northeast region of India is a salubrious visual of lush forest-covered hills, and a peculiar culture untainted by pollution. Its fertile land and water resources, ideal climate and arable land for horticulture, and a rich textile handicraft and social culture combined with the people’s enterprising nature can create jobs in vast numbers. Yet, the contribution of the region to the country’s GDP remains grossly under-leveraged.

More than 90% of Northeast India’s borders form the nation’s international boundaries: on one hand, with South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, and with growing Southeast and East Asian economies such as Myanmar and China on the other. The strategic location and historic links of the Northeast can be leveraged as a base for India’s growing international economic links.

So Near yet so Far

Isolation plus high transaction costs equal low growth for the Northeast. Major challenges to connectivity can be enumerated in terms of the region’s hilly terrain, limited number of airports, scarcity of skilled and unskilled labour, climatic disturbances such as floods and landslides in monsoons, laws pertaining to land acquisition and transfer, and the states themselves being landlocked.