Economy / Assam

GUWAHATI, April 7 ? The North Eastern Small Scale Industries Association (NESSIA) has called upon the Centre to come forward with a special package scheme for Assam and other north eastern States to help revive the powerloom sector of the region. Out of the total 3,000 powerlooms in Assam hardly 500 units are in operation. In a memorandum to the Union Textile Minister, Sri Kashiram Rana, the NESSIA said the powerloom sector in the region was turning sick after 1992 for lack of yarn with the sudden closure of most of the spinning mills and process houses. The memorandum urged the Minister to...

GUWAHATI, April 2 ? The Assam Legislative Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the big tea companies, having gardens in Assam, should shift their headquarters to the State. The resolution was moved by Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) legislators Sri Jagadish Bhuyan, Sri Dilip Kumar Saikia, Sri Gunin Hazarika and Sri Hitendra Nath Goswami and independent legislator Sri Pabindra Deka. The resolution received the support of all the parties including the ruling Congress. The House also resolved that the Central Government should take necessary steps in this regard.

Moving the...

GUWAHATI, April 2 ? The Statfed, which has been in the red for the past several years, will be able to stand on its feet in the next one-and-a-half years if it receives cooperation from all concerned. Jatin Hazarika, the new chairman of the Statfed said this while revealing a revival package for the ailing federation here today. Briefing newsmen, Hazarika said the Statfed management recently approved a scheme for production, packaging and sale of pure mustard oil with the brand name Tripti by entering a licence agreement with M/S Shree Seco Pvt Ltd, a reputed mustard oil manufacturing company...

GUWAHATI, April 1 ? Even as the Guwahati Development Department Minister, Sri Anjan Dutta is in the eye of a storm over the procedure of allotment of checkgates and parking places, his ministerial colleague, Pradyut Bordoloi, Minister of State for Home, today assured the State Assembly that strict measures would be taken to prevent ?extortion? at checkgates all over the State. Bringing a Call Attention Motion in the House today, AGP legislator, Dilip Kumar Saikia raised alarm over the unabated extortion in these checkgates and drew the attention of the House to newspaper reports over ?reign of...

GUWAHATI, March 31 ? The State Government has taken a policy decision to introduce voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) in the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and a preliminary report in this regard has already been sent to the Planning Commission. This was disclosed by the Minister for Finance and Power Sri Devanand Konwar. Participating in a meet-the-press programme in the Guwahati Press Club today, Sri Konwar said that in the first phase, the government has submitted a proposal for introducing VRS in the ASEB for 200 persons and a detailed scheme in this regard would be forwarded to the...

GUWAHATI, March 30 ?Though the payment of salaries and pension by the State Government for the month of February is on, the troubles of the Government employees are far from over. The secretary general of the Sadou Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP Sri Charan Deka said that the Government has been releasing salaries only for the month of February but more than 50 per cent of the employees have not received their salaries even for the month of January. ?As today is the last working day of the month, the employees should have received their salaries for the month of March today but they are still...

NEW DELHI, March 30? Even as the Assam gas cracker project is gasping for survival for want of gas the entire gas produced in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh is being flared because of lack of consumers in the State. Taken aback at the peculiar situation, the Parliamentary Committee on Petroleum and Chemical has given Oil India Limited (OIL), which is flaring its gas in Arunachal Pradesh, three months? time to come up with a solution to resolve the problem. According to OIL?s estimate it is incurring a loss of around Rs 1 lakh daily due to such flaring. OIL produces 0.06 MMSCMD in Arunachal...

NEW DELHI, March 22 ? The Commerce Ministry has ruled out the possibility of reopening the Stillwell Road even as two additional points for border trade with Myanmar in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have been identified for opening. The disclosure was made by the Minister of State for Commerce, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, at the Lok Sabha, here this morning, in response to a question by Paban Singh Ghatowar. The MP seeking an assurance from the Minister, underlined the importance of the Stillwell Road for the economy of the North East. He pointed out to the Minister that importance of the road lay in...

GUWAHATI, March 21 ? The State Government offices all over the State including the State Secretariat, the nerve centre of the administration, was paralysed in the second half for the fifth day today because of the ceasework by employees. The agitating employees led by Sadou Asam Karmachari Parishad (SAKP) paralysed work at the State Secretariat here despite deployment of a large number of CRPF personnel in and around the capital complex today. The State employees have been agitating for non-payment of salaries for the month of February by the cash-strapped Tarun Gogoi Government till date. The...

NAMRUP, March 18?The Assam Petrochemicals Ltd (APL), a pioneer enterprise engaged in manufacturer of methanol or ethyl alcohol and formalin, with natural gas as feed stock, has been gasping under the price hike of natural gas and power. APL is an Assam Government public sector undertaking (PSU), incorporated in 1971 with 88 per cent equity share of the government and 10 per cent of the IDBI. It started its commercial production of 21 TPD Methanol plant and 36 TPD formalin or formaldehyde plant in 1975. Since then APL has been galloping ahead, crossing several barriers like market crunch...