Tinsukia gets Rs 250-crore civic push and a Rs 55-crore AAC block plant

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced infrastructure projects worth about Rs 250 crore for Tinsukia, conceding that the commercial town in Upper Assam had not received enough attention compared with other parts of the state.

"As CM, I feel that we have done somewhat less than what should have been done here. There is a need to do more for Tinsukia," Sarma said while addressing a gathering at the Manab Kalyan Puja Bhawan during his two-day visit to Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts this week.

Where the money goes

Of the total, Rs 200 crore has been earmarked for roads and drainage across the district. Sarma asked the Tinsukia Municipal Board, the local MLA and residents to sit together and identify which projects should come first.

A 1,000-seat auditorium will be built for Rs 50 crore. The government also plans an integrated Deputy Commissioner's office to bring various departments under one roof. Other proposals include a bus terminus, multi-level parking, an upgrade of Kachujan Stadium, better street lighting and the modernisation of the district library.

The Chief Minister inspected four civic projects worth over Rs 8 crore funded by the 15th Finance Commission: Swahid Piyoli Phukan Playground at Tamulbari (Rs 4.54 crore), the revival of Bor Godha Pukhuri pond at Sripuria (Rs 2.33 crore), and works at Mahatma Gandhi Park and Bishnu Rabha Park.

He also launched Samagra Seva, a Rs 1.5-crore app that lets residents track garbage vehicles, pay property tax, apply for trade licences and building permission, and register complaints. Sarma repeated that a university and an engineering college would follow once a medical college is set up in the district.

Green block unit at Hapjan

On Thursday, Sarma inaugurated an Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) block manufacturing unit set up by Lightbricks Private Limited, part of the KD Group, at Hapjan. Built with an investment of around Rs 55 crore under an MoU signed at Advantage Assam 2.0, it is described as the biggest private manufacturing investment in Tinsukia district in 15 years.

Sarma said AAC blocks would cut the use of conventional red bricks and so help protect farmland, and that the plant uses a block technology with an in-built grid for the first time in Asia. It will supply builders in Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The unit is expected to employ about 80 people directly and 75 through contractors, with more than 500 others, such as suppliers and retailers, benefiting indirectly.