Shillong June 12: Two major projects in Meghalaya will be funded by the Japanese government besides other projects in the entire North Eastern region worth 205.784 billion Yen, equivalent to approximately Rs.13,000 crore.

The projects in Meghalaya include the Northeast Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project spread over Assam and Meghalaya, and Northeast Network Connectivity Improvement Project in Meghalaya.

A statement issued by the government said that the Japanese government has decided to invest an amount of 205.784 billion Yen, equivalent to approximately Rs.13,000 crore, in several ongoing as well as new projects in different states of the North Eastern region.

This was disclosed after a meeting which the DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh had with the Japanese delegation led by Ambassador, Kenji Hiramatsu in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Besides the two projects in Meghalaya, the other important projects which Japan will collaborate include Guwahati Water Supply Project and Guwahati Sewage Project in Assam, Bio-diversity Conservation and Forest Management Project in Sikkim, Sustainable Forest Management Project in Tripura, Technical Cooperation Project for Sustainable Agriculture & Irrigation in Mizoram, Forest Management Project in Nagaland, among others.

Dr Singh while appreciating the Japanese contribution to the development and transformation of the North-Eastern region in the last three to four yearss said that in the times to come, new areas of collaboration will also be sought to be worked out, which could possibly include Bamboo-related collaboration.

“It was the Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which amended the 90-year old ‘Indian Forest Act of 1919’ of the British government to bring in home-grown bamboo out of its purview,” Dr Singh said.