As a fairly violence-free 2010 draws to a close, Assam looks forward to a New Year with the hope that the promise of peace after years of strife and violence does not give the state a miss.
In 2010, the state inched closer to a political solution to its three decades old Ulfa militancy problem by clearing the ground for talks with the banned militant outfit. Top Ulfa leaders, many of whom were arrested from Bangladesh and were jailed in Assam in 2009, were released on bail in succession in 2010 to make a “conducive” environment for a “meaningful” dialogue. The state now eagerly waits to see what the outcome of the dialogue would be.
The year 2010 would also be remembered as a year of scams in Assam, as multi-crore scams in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council came to light, and seven cabinet ministers of Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government were alleged to be involved in one of the scams.
With militancy taking a backseat, confidence of industry was on an upswing in 2010, with the state witnessing an increase in number of investment proposals from the private sector, most of them coming from Kolkata-based companies like Kohinoor Pulp and Paper Pvt Ltd, Infinity Infotech Parks Ltd and Green Concretex Materials Private Ltd.
In March, Assam saw a galaxy of towering personalities from the corporate sector sitting together and charting out the roadmap for the state’s economic and industrial development. Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, BM Khaitan, chairman of Eveready Industries, MS Banga, president (food, home and personal care) of Unilever Group, VN Dhoot, chairman of Videocon Group, Ronen Sen, former Ambassador to the US, OP Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), were among those who were present at the ‘growth charting’ meet.
Assam also got a five star hotel with laying of the foundation stone of ‘Vivanta by Taj’ by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in presence of Ratan Tata. Soon, the Sarovar Hotels and Resorts also ventured into the state with the plan to open two properties in Guwahati and Tezpur respectively.
The gesture of the neighbouring country Bangladesh to grant access to two of its ports – Chittagong and Ashuganj, was welcomed by the industry of North-East as that gave the landlocked region an access to the sea.
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Besides the multi-crore NC Hills scam, the issue that kept rending the air in Assam throughout the year 2010 was the demand for scrapping of the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project (LSHEP), being developed by NHPC Ltd. Recommendations of an expert panel against mega dams in the region, and particularly its reservations against the LSHEP, triggered a wave of protests across the state.
With elections due early 2011, political parties too jumped into the anti-dam bandwagon.
In an act of one-upmanship, the Assam government soon announced that until and unless it was “sufficiently comfortable” that the project will not have any adverse impact on downstream areas in the state, it would not sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NHPC Ltd.