A high level meeting chaired by the Principal Secretary to PM today reviewed the progress on the Prime Minister's development initiatives for Arunachal Pradesh. The meeting was attended by senior officers of the Government of India and Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

During his visit to Arunachal Pradesh from 31st January to 1st February, 2008. Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh had announced a major package to address the critical infrastructure and connectivity requirements of this sensitive border State. It included : household electrification, particularly in the border villages, a greenfield airport in Itanagar, helicopter service between Guwahati and Tawang, four-lane highway for Itanagar, the trans-Arunachal highway, drinking water facilities in remote locations, the road connectivity of border villages, new Secretariat building at Itanagar, the Dibang Valley and Pare power projects and railway line between Harmuti and Itanagar. Once completed, it is expected that these projects would significantly boost up the economic development of Arunachal Pradesh and also, in general, the North East.

It was noted with satisfaction that the projects of Airport at Itanagar and four-laning of Itanagar Highway and Guwahati-Tawang Helicopter service had been approved and were making good headway. Progress was also very encouraging in electrification of houses in border areas and connectivity of border village. Decisions were taken to fast track the power projects, the trans-Arunachal Highway, drinking water supply and five smaller airports, and timelines were fixed for various stages of project implementation. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh was commended for its efforts in introducing public participation and transparency in project implementation by placing all information regarding project sanctions, execution, etc. in the public domain/website.