Abstract
The Northeast Region (NER) of India as a unified economy constituting a market of about 45 million people is the most appropriate approach for the development of this area. The Northeast states are perceived as a region because it is landlocked and surrounded on all sides by foreign countries and connected with the mainland of India through a narrow neck of 29 km. Other than Assam, the rest of the states in the region are individually small and have a small market. The internal economic integration of NER will provide the benefit of a larger market, and thereby gains from scale economies and specialization and a way forward towards trade and economic exchanges with the countries neighbouring it under the Look East Policy.
This is a revised version of the J. B. Ganguli Memorial Lecture delivered at Tripura Central University on April 11, 2011.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
A high level Commission entitled “Transforming the North East” was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri S. P. Shukla following the Prime Minister’s announcement of “New Initiatives for the North Eastern Region” on October 27, 1996. The report was submitted in March 1997. Prior to that, the Planning Commission constituted a Working Group on the Development of the North Eastern Region during the Seventh Five Year Plan, 1985–90 under the Chairmanship of P. H. Trivedi, Secretary, NEC. Also, the Planning Commission at the instance of the Union Home Ministry constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of L. C. Jain, then Member, Planning Commission, to look into the question of the economic development of Assam under Clause Seven of the Assam Accord. The report was submitted in April 1990.
- 2.
“Why the Northeastern States Continue to Decelerate(2005),” Man and Society: A Journal of North East States, Volume 1, Number 1, Spring.
- 3.
For similar observations in another context, see Amar Yumnam, “Regional Cooperation and Development: Strategy for Development in a Conflict Zone,” presented at the conference on “Towards A New Asia Transnationalism & Northeast India,” organized by the CENISEAS Forum, OKD Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati on September 10 and 11, 2004, p. 3.
- 4.
NER Vision 2020, May 13, 2008.
- 5.
GOI has recently sanctioned: a multilane Northeast Express Highway linking all the capitals of the Northeast states (spanning 6907 km to provide connectivity within and between different units of the region) and infrastructure development (4464 km of national highways, 2050 km of newly declared highways and 393 km of NEC roads).
- 6.
Joseph Stiglitz (2002), Globalization and its Discontents, Allen Lane, p. 4.
- 7.
Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya share borders with Bangladesh, while Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland share them with Myanmar. Assam has a border with Bhutan, too. The Tibet region of China and Myanmar border Arunachal Pradesh.
- 8.
Paolo Cecchini (1988), European Challenge 1992; Gower, London.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sarma, A. (2018). A Unified Northeast Economy: The Road to Gainful Economic Integration with South East Asia. In: Sarma, A., Choudhury, S. (eds) Mainstreaming the Northeast in India’s Look and Act East Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5320-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5320-7_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5319-1
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5320-7
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)