Continuing its focus on the development of the eastern region, the Narendra Modi government is planning to formulate a plan, ‘Purvodaya’, for the all-round development of the region.
“The States in the eastern part of the country are rich in endowments and have strong cultural traditions. We will formulate a plan, Purvodaya, for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Parliament on Tuesday.
Sitharaman informed that the plan will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.
Notably, during her Interim Budget presentation on February 1, the Finance Minister had said the government would pay “utmost attention” to make the Eastern region and its people a “powerful driver” of India’s growth to make sure that the states in the region become the engines of growth towards Viksit Bharat 2047.
According to economists, the eastern region needs a special emphasis as the economic growth of these states is relatively low compared to the states of some of the other regions of India.
Presenting the Union Budget 2024-2025 on Tuesday, Sitharaman said on the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor, the Centre will support development of an “industrial node” at Gaya. “This corridor will catalyze industrial development of the eastern region. The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of modern economy. This model shall showcase “Vikas bhi Virasat bhi” in our growth trajectory,” she said.
The Finance Minister further said more than 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the North East region to expand the banking services.
S K Behera, Chairman CII Eastern Region, hailed the Government’s initiative for formulation of plan for Purvodaya for all round development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. Behera also applauded the Government’s focus on tourism development of heritage sites of the eastern region.