Report

80 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA
in the region includes cane and bamboo products,
textile weaving, woodcarving, carpet making, jewelry,
hand-made pottery, brass cutting, silver works, articles
made with goat hair, boar tusks, and beads.
Proper infrastructure development will assist the
region in business and trade. Tea is a major revenue
generator and plays a very important role in improving
the economy of the region. Assam and Tripura are the
traditional tea growing areas in this region. Assam
accounts for almost 53% of the all India production of
tea and 20% is annually exported. As tea is a labourintensive
crop, the plantation industry provides gainful
employment to a large section of the population directly
and indirectly across the country through manufacturing
and marketing. The region can produce very high
quality, organic teas as tea is planted in virgin areas.
There is great opportunity for export of good quality
tea from the region in the long run.
Improved connectivity will also open up a wide
range of agribusiness and trade possibilities for the
region. The region has comparative advantage in several
horticultural products and the opening of an airport
will allow the products produced here to enter the vast
domestic as well as global market, especially in South
East Asia. Products include orchids, flower bulbs, foliage,
medicinal plants, citrus fruits, hot cherry peppers,
cardamom, ginger, turmeric, organic vegetables, and
tropical fruits.
A large segment of the northeastern states have
international borders. Trade along and across the
borders has been significant for the economy of the
region as a whole. The Border Trade Agreement
between India and Myanmar that came into effect in
1995 provides for border trade initially through two
points – at Moreh in Manipur and at Champhai in
Mizoram. Mutually identified points are to be
subsequently considered. There is no formal point of
trade with the People’s Republic of China. Improved
connectivity to the region will open opportunities for
trade with these neighbouring areas as well. Although
to begin with the impact may not be significant for
the national economy, over time connection to the
southeast and east Asia region and the People’s Republic
of China will bring considerable benefits. Increased
connectivity will allow for increased business
opportunities, more business travel, and increased
employment opportunities in the region for the
unemployed youth and the landless labourers which
will minimise social unrest in the rural areas. 12
The Project
Bagdogra is a civilian airport, approximately 18 km
from Siliguri in northern West Bengal. The proposed
project is upgradation of the Bagdogra airport to an
international airport which allows for short-haul flights
for both passengers and cargo and needs to provide for
the following:
• Basic international airport facilities including paved
runways that are as maintenance-free as possible;
runway strip at least 90 meters wide; passenger
terminal buildings and basic security; stock-proof
boundary fencing; water supply and sewerage
facilities; and maintenance equipment for facilities
and structures
• Operational facilities including control towers;
automatic weather observation systems; precision
approach path indicators; other visual aids to identify
runways when visibility is poor; and generators
We work out the preliminary cost estimates in
Table 9.10 based on airports authority of India (AAI)
estimates for domestic airports as well as some estimates
for international airports, which have features similar
to that of Bagdogra. 13 Costs of $150 million are taken
12
Sanjib Baruah, ‘The Problem’, Manipur Online, 23 November 2005, writes that the region’s difficulties as a result of the loss
of connectivity and market access following 1947 partition are well known but there is also an older story of colonial geopolitics
that cut the region off from its neighbourhood across the eastern and northern borders. 19th century British colonial
decisions to draw lines between the hills and the plains, to put barriers on trade between Bhutan and Assam, and to treat
Myanmar as a buffer against French Indo-China and the People’s Republic of China severed the region from its traditional
trade routes – the southern trails of the Silk Road. While colonial rulers built railways and roads mostly to take tea, coal, oil
and other resources out of Assam, the disruption of old trade routes remained colonialism’s most enduring negative legacy.
After a century and half the opportunity has now arisen to undo the effects of colonial geopolitics. While economics dominate
discussions of what the Look East policy could do for the region there are potential non-economic dividends as well.
Transnational ties could speak to Northeast India’s current political troubles. The opportunities that economic integration
with its transnational neighbours could open up for Northeast India are enormous. Sanjib Baruah, ‘The Problem’, Manipur
Online, 23 November 2005.
13
The airports authority of India (AAI) announced that it would seek funds from capital markets to help meet the estimated
Rs 40,000 crore, or $8.7 billion, cost of modernising about 30 non-metro airports across the country. AAI also allocated an
additional $2.2 million to its $8.1 million construction project at the Surat Airport (approximately Rs 22 crore). The work
includes an upgradation of the runway and a new terminal building. International airport estimates for Bamyan, Afghanistan
and Bowers Field, Washington, have been taken into consideration for this analysis.