Imphal: Chief Minister of Manipur, Yumnam Khemchand Singh, today called upon NITI Aayog to play a decisive role in the state’s economic recovery, peace-building efforts and long-term development. The Chief Minister was speaking during the interaction between NITI Aayog and Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of North Eastern States held at New Delhi.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has described India’s Northeast as the “Growth Engine of India” and as ‘Ashtalakshmi’, Khemchand Singh affirmed that development is the most effective tool to end insurgency and unrest in Manipur. He noted that Manipur has suffered greatly viz. economically, socially and developmentally in the last few years. Stating that NITI Aayog has a big role to play in the development of the North East and Manipur, the Chief Minister sought NITI Aayog’s help in planning economic recovery, coordinating with ministries, and engaging international partners.
During the interaction, Khemchand Singh highlighted that connectivity is one of the most important sectors where Manipur needs sustained and major investments. Major projects such as Railway connection to Imphal, National Highway Projects connecting Imphal to the rest of the country, airport terminal expansion etc. need early completion and these projects have the potential to change the developmental landscape of Manipur, he added. He also urged the NITI Aayog to support projects like the Imphal Ring Road Project, Elevated Highway in Imphal, Imphal – Moreh Railway Project.
The Chief Minister maintained that the Act East Policy envisions Manipur as India’s main land-based gateway to Southeast Asia, the actual execution of projects frequently faces delays due to cross-border political instability and other related challenges. This has led to a persistent implementation gap. To address this, he requested the NITI Aayog to set up a high-level “Act Fast Implementation Unit” tasked with shielding critical cross-border logistics infrastructure from localized disruptions. The Chief Minister also proposed the NITI Aayog to establish an ‘Act East Regional Coordination Cell’ in collaboration with the North Eastern Council, bringing together Northeastern States to regularly synchronize border, logistics, and security policies.
Khemchand Singh further stated that medical colleges in the state like RIMS and JNIMS require substantial modernization and there is huge potential for providing treatment to patients from South East Asia, especially Myanmar. He stated that NITI Aayog could help by coordinating with the Ministry of Health to develop a Super-Specialty Tertiary Care Expansion Framework in Manipur, so that Manipur could become a ‘Medical Tourism Hub’ catering to patients from Southeast Asia.
The Chief Minister pointed out that internal security challenges and civil friction create a risk premium which heavily discourages private investment and inflates the construction and maintenance costs of projects in the state. He sought NITI Aayog’s support in designing a special fiscal incentive framework that provides Vulnerability Gap Funding (VGF) for infrastructure projects facing security issues.
He further observed that the same financial allocations under various central schemes yield significantly less physical infrastructure in the North Eastern Region and Manipur, compared to many parts of the country, due to the region’s difficult and hilly terrain. He suggested that NITI Aayog could assist by helping to formulate a Terrain-Weighted Cost Index Matrix, granting North eastern states a 20–30% fiscal premium for central fund distributions to offset geographic barriers.
Khemchand Singh stated that Manipur relies heavily on central grants, with its own tax revenue making up only about 10% of revenue receipts, thereby severely constraining its independent developmental funding. He added that NITI Aayog could help by preparing a roadmap to enhance the State’s Fiscal Capacity, with specific interventions such as Fiscal Stabilisation Grant, flexibility in central scheme funding, and leveraging funding and technical assistance from multilateral development banks.
The Chief Minister thanked NITI Aayog for arranging the meeting and expressed his belief that the deliberations would contribute towards making a Viksit Manipur, Viksit North East, and Viksit Bharat @ 2047.
The interaction was attended by Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Chief Ministers of North Eastern States, Members of the NITI Aayog, Chief Secretaries of all North Eastern States, Officials of NITI Aayog and State Governments.
