Ambani, Adani promise to boost investment in North East

Shillong, May 23: The northeastern region will see a boost in investment from none other than the Adanis and the Ambanis, who pledged to play an important role in the growth of the region in the next five years.

Mukesh Ambani, CMD of Reliance Industries Limited, said at the Rising Northeast Investors’ Summit 2025 in Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam on Friday the group would more than double its investments to Rs 75,000 crore in the next five years. Reliance has invested around Rs 30,000 crore in the region in the past 40 years.

“The eight states of North-East are rightly called Ashta Lakshmi. With the blessings of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity, the North-East is not just rising — but to my mind it is roaring. In the near future, I can clearly see this region replicating the miracle achieved by neighbouring countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam,” Ambani said in his speech.

He added that besides creating over 2.5 million direct and indirect employment opportunities, RIL aspired to “touch the lives of most of our 45 million sisters and brothers in North East”.

“Jio has already covered 90% of the population with over 5 million 5G subscribers. We will double this number this year,” he said.

Reliance Retail will also increase its procurement of staples, fruits and vegetables to boost local farmers’ income.

The group also intends to invest in factories for high-quality FMCG products in the region and promote artisan economy.

Adani’s promise

Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, said the group has plans to invest additional Rs 50,000 crore in the region over the next 10 years.

The investment will focus on infrastructure, logistics, energy networks and digital connectivity.

At the Summit, Adani said the region was “an economic promise and strategic direction”. He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the North East “a wake-up call” through Act East, Act First, Act Fast.

Modi’s visit to violence-torn Manipur is still awaited.