Guwahati,  The northeast region chapter of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Tuesday, welcomed the Union Budget presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for focusing on infrastructure, and said that the the Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North-East (PM-DevINE) would help bridge critical infrastructure gaps in remote areas and provide livelihood options to the people in the region.

North East Advisory Council Chairman of FICCI, Ranjit Barthakur terming the budget as pragmatic, said that it focused on core sectors like, health care, infrastructure, MSMEs Technology and financial inclusion.

He said: "We particularly welcome the focus on infrastructure and social development projects through the PM-DevINE. The initiative would help bridge critical infrastructure gaps in remote areas and provide livelihood options to the people in the region. We hope the initial outlay of Rs 1,500 crore for the scheme would be suitably enhanced as per requirement."

Terming the focus on Energy Transition and Climate Change "a step in the right direction", Barthakur said that the northeast India is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots of the country and the region could benefit immensely from the decision to bring about legislative changes to promote agro forestry and private forestry.

The old economic model of rapid growth is now recognized to be the fundamental cause behind the depletion of our natural resources.

Since 2020, climate and biodiversity risks have topped the World Economic Forum's Annual Risk Report analyzing business perception of economic risk.

Climate change has been costing the world over $150 billion annually since 2017, he added.

The FICCI leader said that the decision to provide financial support to farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, for agro-forestry is also a very welcoming step.

"We will be requesting the government to allow the tea Industry also to take advantage of the proposed legislative changes and financial support," he told the media in Guwahati.He also welcomed the decision to enhance support to MSMEs by revamping the CGTMSE scheme.

"As in most other parts of the country, in the northeast region too micro enterprises suffered the most as a result of the Covid pandemic and we are hopeful that the additional credit of Rs 2 lakh crore which would become available, would help in ensuring continued financial sustainability of the MSMEs."

Another important budget announcement that could help the education sector in the region, particularly in remote hilly areas is the decision to expand the reach of PMevidya "One Class One TV Channel" from 12 channels to 200 channels.

This will help the state Governments in providing quality education to students in remote rural areas without depending on internet connectivity, Barthakur said.

FICCI Assam State Council Chairman Dipankar Barua said that the tourism and hospitality sector in Assam is going through a very difficult time and welcomed the decision to extend the benefits under ECLGS (Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme) scheme upto march 2023 with a focus on the hospitality sector.

He also welcomed the announcement of the National Ropeway Development Programme "Parvatmala" and "this programme would help connect many remote locations in the northeast and can be capitalised for tourism".