Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma travelled to Shillong on Friday, 19 June 2026, to attend a regional coordination meeting convened in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, where chief ministers and senior officials from North Eastern states held discussions on the impact of the External Aided Projects (EAP) scheme and the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) on the region's development.

Context

Sarma shared highlights of the visit on 20 June 2026, writing that the gathering produced 'an insightful discussion on how EAP and SASCI has transformed North East.' The meeting in Shillong — the capital of Meghalaya and a longstanding venue for North Eastern inter-governmental coordination — brought together his counterparts from across the region under the Finance Ministry's facilitation.

The North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the BJP-led coalition of regional parties formed in 2016 and convened by Sarma himself, provides the political architecture within which such ministerial-level consultations typically take place. Finance Ministry-mediated meetings with NEDA-governed states have become a regular feature of the Centre's capital-investment coordination since 2020.

Policy Backdrop

EAP refers to projects in the North East funded through multilateral and bilateral external assistance routed via the Centre, covering sectors such as roads, power, and urban infrastructure. SASCI — the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment scheme — provides 50-year interest-free loans to states specifically for capital expenditure, and has been a key instrument in boosting state-level infrastructure spending without adding to states' immediate debt-servicing burden.

Both instruments sit within a broader policy architecture that includes the Act East Policy, launched in 2014, and the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS), introduced in 2017. Together, these frameworks have channelled significant central and external resources into the eight North Eastern states for connectivity, logistics, and urban development projects.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of EAP and SASCI in the North East are the eight states of the region, each at varying stages of project implementation. Such meetings typically review utilisation rates, flag implementation bottlenecks, and set the stage for potential top-up allocations or revised disbursement timelines ahead of annual budget cycles.

Finance Minister Sitharaman's presence at the Shillong meeting signals the Centre's continued emphasis on ensuring that capital funds allocated to the region are absorbed efficiently. Her direct engagement with state-level leadership is consistent with the Finance Ministry's practice of holding pre-budget consultations with states on capital investment performance.

What's Next

Observers will watch for the release of scheme utilisation reports for EAP and SASCI in the North East, which typically follow such ministerial reviews. Any supplementary capital grants or revised project timelines announced in the next Union Budget will be read as a direct outcome of this round of consultations.

Sarma's post indicated that more details from the Shillong visit are available in a highlights video, suggesting the meeting covered ground beyond EAP and SASCI — the full scope of which may become clearer as official readouts are released by the Finance Ministry or participating state governments.