Over Rs 16,000 crore has been pooled under the special fund of Non-lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) for development of the northeastern states, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In a written reply, Minister for Development of Northeastern Region B K Handique said Rs 16,155 crore have been accrued to the NLCPR during 1998-99 to 2008-09.
The NLCPR was created to pool unspent money allocated under various schemes by central ministries and departments in the annual budget.
The Central ministries need to earmark at least 10 per cent of their budget for developmental programmes in the northeastern region and the unspent portion of the money goes to the NLCPR.
The funds from NLCPR are allocated to various states by DoNER ministry for developmental schemes.
The broad objective of the NLCPR scheme is to ensure speedy development of infrastructure in the northeastern region.