The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce made several significant recommendations concerning promotion of trade between North Eastern Region and neighbouring countries.
It underlined the need for extension of six per cent concession on rail freight to cover export of rakes from ICD, Amingaon, being operated by the CONCOR. This concession is currently provided by the Railways for full rake movements from in and out of the North-east.
Acknowledging the difficulties faced by the air passengers, the Parliamentary Panel said that international flights from Guwahati to the five South East Asian countries should be introduced, as the direct air connectivity would considerably improve international trade and tourism.
There was a large air cargo complex for EXIM, with sufficient cold storage, for storing perishable horticulture and agro products, the Panel noted.
Guwahati was a big business hub in the North-east. Though there was also international airport, yet it seemed to have been overlooked in terms of infrastructure that matches international standards. Due to lack of proper focus and promotional policies on the part of government, people of the area had been deprived of moving to international destinations, to sell out their products, the Parliamentary Standing Committee commented.
The River Brahmaputra, for which the Government had allocated an amount of Rs 270 crore to develop it into a better navigational system, could be used effectively for commercial purposes, so as to get closer to the Bay of Bengal, which, in turn could help the people reach international destinations, the Committee headed by Dr Murli Manohar Joshi.
Noting that Inland Container Deport (ICD) Amingaon was the only serving ICD in the entire North Eastern Region, it commented that in terms of location, it was at a disadvantageous position, as the nearest seaport Kolkata was at a distance of 1,100 Km.
The primary item of export is tea and there is hardly any import and the exporters had to pay even for bringing empty containers from Kolkata to load their exports, it said.
The Parliamentary Panel also focused on the Land Custom Stations (LCS) at Moreh and Agartala. A sub-committee was constituted to study the problems faced by these LCDs reported that huge quantities of various items were being exported illegally through Moreh.
It was suggested that to promote Indo-Myanmar bilateral commerce, trade fairs might be organized in both the border towns including Moreh and Tamu. Myanmarese should be allowed to visit North-east through the Moreh land route without restrictions like India and Nepal.
It was also suggested that Myanmarese should be given seat quota in educational institutions including medical institutes in the North-east mainly Manipur. It was also further suggested that patients from the neighboring country should be allowed treatment at RIMS and J N Hospitals at Imphal on completion of simple official formalities.
Businessmen from North-east should be allowed to visit up to Mandalay in Myanmar through Moreh land route for market survey.
About the LCS at Agartala, the Panel said that it lacks the basic infrastructure to meet the growing trend of trade. There are no proper roads, either on the Indian side or on the Bangladesh side, which, during rainy season, which creates hardships for the traders. Adequate arrangements for proper electrification are not there and the entire area of the L CS after the sun set is in darkness.
The situation becomes grim during the winter season, when days are shorter. Further, there are no warehouses either private or public. Thus the infrastructure conditions at the LCS were extremely poor, it observed.