A tripartite agreement signed by National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to facilitate the swift development of Modern Multi Modal Logistics Parks (MMLP) under Bharatmala Pariyojna has great significance for the landlocked northeast region. The agreement is expected to fast-track the commissioning of India’s first MMLP being developed at Jogighopa in Assam for seamless modal swapping/shifting of cargo from and to waterways, dedicated freight corridors and road transport. Combining the MMLP project execution with the Krishi Udan Scheme and the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) has the potential to turn the landlocked region into a unique commercial hub. The MMLP coming up on a sprawling 317 acres of land by the river Brahmaputra will be connected to Jogighopa railway station with a 3-km railway line and with the Rupsi airport with a four-lane highway while the nearest Jogighopa river port on National Waterway 2 along the Brahmaputra is located at a distance of 6 km. When commissioned, it will handle cargo to the tune of 13 million metric tonnes per annum capacity. The Krishi Udan Scheme 2.0 announced in October 2021 seeks to enhance the transport of perishable food products from the hilly areas, North-Eastern States and tribal areas by facilitating and incentivising the movement of agri-produce by air transportation.
The Airports Authority of India provides a full waiver of Landing, Parking charges, Terminal Navigational Landing Charges (TNLC) and Route Navigation Facility Charges (RNFC) for Indian freighters and Passenger-to-Cargo Aircraft primarily around 25 airports in Northeast, Hilly and tribal regions and 33 airports in other regions/areas. It is a convergence scheme for various ministries, including the Ministry of Development of the North-Eastern Region (DoNER) for leveraging their existing schemes to strengthen the logistics for transportation of Agri-produce in the specified regions. The scheme envisages better and timely mapping of agri-produce from production/supply centres with domestic demand clusters and international markets in synchronization with the marketing strategies. Rupsi being included in the list of 25 airports in the Northeast, it will be possible to smoothly transport agri produce from all over the region to this airport being connected with the Jogighopa MMLP which is poised to become a hub of multilateral and bilateral trade between India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar. While infrastructure that is coming up under the MMLP project will provide the ecosystem for accelerated growth, the region having surplus agri-produce is crucial for boosting trade with the rest of India and exporting with neighbouring countries for economic empowerment. MOVCDNER is aimed at the development of certified organic production in a value chain mode to link growers with consumers and to support the development of the entire value chain starting from inputs, seeds, and certification, to the creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing marketing and brand building initiative.
Key objectives of the mission include developing a crop commodity-specific organic value chain and addressing gaps in organic crop production, wild crop harvesting, organic livestock management and processing handling and marketing of organic agricultural products, facilitating partnerships between farmers and organic businesses and replacing conventional farming/subsistence farming system into a local resource-based, self-sustainable, high-value commercial organic enterprise. Goals under the mission include empowering 30-50 thousand farmers of the region through the creation of about 100 farmer producer companies (FPO), converting subsistence farming to commercial organic farming with end-to-end facilities to make north-eastern states major suppliers of organic commodities for national and international markets.
Financial assistance of Rs 5,000 for each hectare under MOVCDNER is provided for marketing, branding and trade which has helped developed several organic brands which have also found global markets. Several FPOs created under the scheme have registered as vendors with leading companies and improved connectivity under the Krishi Udan regime and MMLP project will augment their production and income. The One District One Product initiative of the Central Government which is operationally merged with the ‘Districts as Export Hub’ initiative can help turn each district in the region to become a manufacturing and export hub by leveraging the Jogighopa MMLP, Krishi Udan and MOVCDNER scheme. The region has an adequate number of integrated pack houses, reefer trucks and ripening chambers along the cold chain to the nearest airport or the marketing hub connected to the airport, railway station or along the freight corridors are critical to turning some of the concepts under various initiative for domestic and international trade of agricultural and horticultural products in the region into realities. Northeast as an organic hub by default is well known and MOVCDNER and related schemes have infused traditional knowledge in organic farming with professionalism among growers, entrepreneurs and traders in the region. The efforts by the Central Government to end geopolitical isolation of the Northeast region through foreign policy initiatives and improving connectivity have put the region on the cusp of a new growth trajectory.
