Infrastructure in the north-eastern region is poised for big-time growth, if one goes by the annual report of the ministry for the development of the north-eastern region (DoNER) for 2007-08.

Around Rs 50,000 crore is proposed to be invested on expansion and roads and highways; the Indian Railways has promised to spend about Rs 10,000 crore on expansion of the rail network; efforts are on to double the power generation capacity from 1,800mw by 2011; broadband users are slated to go up from 20,000 to 1.5 lakh in the next five years. To top it, the Centre plans to pump in Rs 300-400 crore waterways.

Joining in the development plans, especially with regard to public-private partnerships (PPPs), non-resident Indians (NRIs), too, evinced interest in the region?s development, during the investment summit held in Guwahati early this year, report adds.

Some of the NRIs who were keen on participating in PPPs are: Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS), represented by Rajen Barua. Among his areas of interest, Barua listed helping marketing of products abroad, acting as a goodwill ambassador for the region overseas and functioning as an information bank for students from the region.

NRIs Surgeons Association, UK, was keen on PPPs in education, healthcare in the region. Globally Managed Services, which was interested in promoting eco-friendly business models and in introducing green audit in the region.

Patel Enterprises, UK, represented by Lord Adam Hafejee Patel, desired to work in the field of agriculture, water resources and wildlife tourism.

Cognition Group on Health Care, US, was interested in helping solve socio-psychological problems in the region like de-addiction, depression, anxiety etc.

Rebuild USA was searching for partners in technology innovations in pre-engineered building construction for affordable housing. Urban & Town Planning, UK, offered to help the transport sector, while Trent Hotels, Austria wanted to set up a North East Tourism Institute.

Even as all this spells good news for the region, have governments in the region begun their act? For, the draft Vision 2020 document for the region has painted a sorry picture.

Despite being rich in natural resources, the region, battered by insurgency and weak governance, lags behind the rest of the country in development indicators, like road length, access to healthcare and power consumption ? all of which are also below the national average.

The gap between development of the north-east and the rest of the country is widening, says the document.

The per capita gross state domestic product (GSDP) of north-east India, comprising eight states, is 31% less than the national average. The states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.