North-East gets Rs 14,365 crore

Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced allocation of Rs 14,365 crore (Rs 143.65 billion) for North-Eastern region for the year 2007-08.

"The total Budget allocation in 2007-08 for the North-Eastern region, culled out from allocations under different Ministries/Department, has been increased from Rs 12,041 crore (Rs 120.41 billion) in 2006-07 to Rs 14,365 crore (Rs 143.65 billion) in 2007-08," he said presenting the Union Budget on Wednesday.

This amount included Rs 1,380 crore (Rs 13.8 billion) provided to the ministry of development of north-east region, he said.

Chidambaram also announced that the new industrial policy for the region, with suitable fiscal incentives, would be in place before March 31, 2007.