Shillong: Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, on Monday said the transformation of the Northeast from a region once marked by infrastructure deficits and limited investment into a major economic growth hub stands as one of India’s most remarkable development success stories under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing the North-East India Infrastructure Summit and Exhibition 2026 in Shillong, Sonowal said the region has emerged as a strategic growth engine of the Indian economy, driven by unprecedented investments in connectivity, digital infrastructure, logistics, energy and industry.
“From frontier region to economic growth hub, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has led the Northeast’s transformation and it is one of India’s biggest success stories,” Sonowal said, adding that the region has moved from the margins of policymaking to the centre of India’s development agenda. Highlighting the scale of investment, he said Gross Budgetary Support for the Northeast has increased from around ₹20,000 crore in 2014 to over ₹1.08 lakh crore in 2025-26, while cumulative expenditure in the region has crossed ₹7.3 lakh crore in the past decade. He noted that nearly 10,000 km of national highways and over 46,000 km of rural roads have been built since 2014, significantly enhancing connectivity.
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Sonowal also pointed to expanded rail and air networks, digital connectivity reaching 96 per cent of villages, and major industrial projects such as the ₹27,000-crore Tata Semiconductor facility in Assam as indicators of the region’s changing economic landscape. Describing the Northeast as “India’s gateway to Southeast Asia,” Sonowal said inland waterways on the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers are being developed into strategic logistics corridors linking the region with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Southeast Asia. “The Northeast is no longer a landlocked region. It is increasingly becoming a logistics, trade and connectivity corridor linking South Asia with Southeast Asia,” he said. Praising Meghalaya’s development trajectory, Sonowal said the state has leveraged its natural strengths, governance reforms and improved ease of doing business to emerge as an attractive investment destination in sectors such as tourism, information technology, logistics and renewable energy.
