The year 2009 would well go down in the history as the year when Assam, for the first time, moved towards shedding its ‘militancy infested’ tag by inching closer towards arriving at a political solution with several militant outfits, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa).
Thanks to the Union home minister, the militant groups, despite having their confidence on a high by triggering three serial blasts on the first day of 2009, and then another eight days later, had to go on backfoot due to an all-out offensive.
Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), also known as ‘Black Widow’ surrendered and the stage is being readied for talks with Ulfa after the arrest of several top leaders and chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa. Another outfit, Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF), recently declared a three-month unilateral ceasefire.
Although on the industrial front, 2009 was a dampener, the confidence of the industry has been on an upswing since militancy appeared to be nearing a solution.
Barring a few sundry investments in the cement sector, like the Rs 500 crore investment by Vinay Cements, the state failed to attract much private investments in 2009.
But 2009 started on a positive note for the industry with FMCG major Emami inaugurating its biggest production unit near Guwahati. Spread over nearly 50,000 sq. metres, the plant has an installed capacity to produce 5,400 tonnes of creams, lotions and ointments.
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With Assam producing three types of indigenous wild silks – Muga, Pat and Eri, the state got a Rs 5.5 crore composite silk unit at Chaygaon Industrial Growth Centre, near Guwahati in August.
After a delay of about 10 months, the Assam Industrial and Investment Policy 2008 was announced in July. It came into retrospective effect from 1 October 2008.
Among others, the policy laid stress on single window and time-bound clearances of formalities and announced added benefits for "big investors.”
Though Assam never prominently figured in the industrial map of the country, end of militancy could set the stage for private sector investments, feels the industry.
“Any solution to insurgency in Assam and North-East will attract the private sector," feels RS Joshi, president of Federation of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), the premier trade and industry body of North-East. He added that the recent developments on militancy were “good signals” to the industrial development of the state and the region.
On the tea front, although 2009 opened with gloom, as tea production took a beating in the wake of rough weather, it bounced back as and when weather woes subsided, eventually registering a record price realisation as well as production in recent memory. Moreover, the Assam tea industry is bracing up for a buoyant 2010.
“Indications are that the good crop production and firm price realisation would continue, or even be better, in the initial months of the next calendar year,” said Bidyananda Barkakoty, chairman of North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). The year 2009 also saw the introduction of settlement banking and e-auction at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).
Assam tea industry’s reputation almost took a beating when a major scam was unearthed at GTAC where an Assam-based tea estate was found indulging in fraudulent practices where it shortchanged buyers at the auction centre. The tea estate was soon penalised and banished from GTAC for a year.
The surrender of Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), or the ‘Black Widow’, which had stalled developmental projects in North Cachar Hills district, besides unleashing a reign of terror through kidnapping, extortions and killings has brightened hopes for early completion of East-West Corridor Project and Lumding-Silchar broad gauge conversion project.