Secretary, North Eastern Council (NEC), Satinder Kumar Bhalla, after visiting Touphema Coffee plantations visited the State Museum and Kisama Heritage Village followed by a meeting at Polo Hotel, Aradura Hill, Kohima, on 2nd October 2026.
The meeting was attended by G. Ikuto Zhimomi, Adviser, Land Resources, and senior officers from the Tourism, Art & Culture, Land Resources, Eco & Statistics and Planning & Transformation Departments.
In his welcome address, Principal Secretary & Development Commissioner, Y. Kikheto Sema, IAS, welcomed Bhalla and thanked the NEC for its continued support to Nagaland. He stated that over the past 22 years, Nagaland has received ₹1,644.36 crore from NEC for 252 projects across the State.
Sema highlighted Nagaland’s natural resources, rich biodiversity, cultural heritage and favourable climate as important opportunities for economic development. He particularly highlighted the potential of coffee, tea and rubber plantations and the State’s vision to expand coffee cultivation to 50,000 hectares by 2030.
He identified health, education, roads, infrastructure, tourism, meat, egg and fish production as important areas requiring greater investment. He also stressed the need to promote eco-tourism, agro-tourism and forest tourism by making better use of Nagaland’s natural and cultural resources.
Sema further emphasised that Nagaland’s culture is its strength and identity and should be linked with tourism and economic development. He also requested greater flexibility in cost norms for the Northeastern States particularly Nagaland, considering the difficult terrain, high transportation costs and other geographical challenges of the region.
Responding to the issues raised, Bhalla said that NEC is looking forward to receiving a comprehensive “wish list” of projects from Nagaland. He encouraged the State to think beyond small projects and prepare ambitious, long-term proposals up to 2047, in line with the vision of Viksit Nagaland@2047.
On tourism, Bhalla suggested developing an “iconic tourism circuit” covering key destinations of Nagaland and adopting a “One District, One Destination” approach.
He also highlighted the economic potential of Nagaland’s forests and said that conservation and development can go together. He pointed to opportunities in carbon credits, e-sports, IT, IT-enabled services, cultural heritage and other sectors that can create employment while protecting the environment.
Bhalla also encouraged greater value addition and processing of local agricultural produce within the State to reduce wastage and increase returns to farmers.
The interaction concluded with an emphasis on strengthening the partnership between Nagaland and NEC and developing larger, sustainable and employment-oriented projects for the State’s long-term development.
(PRO Lok Bhavan)
