Assam-Nagaland border pact opens 1,000 sq km for energy exploration

A tripartite agreement signed Thursday opens more than 1,000 square kilometres along the Assam-Nagaland border for oil, gas, and mineral exploration. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and the chief ministers of both states signed the pact in New Delhi.

The area has long been off-limits because of a boundary dispute between the two states. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X that the disagreement had blocked access to natural resources in the region. "Today with the signing of the MoU in the presence of Adarniya Amit Shah ji, this bottleneck is now removed," he wrote.

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio also attended the signing. The agreement falls under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's broader push to cut India's reliance on imported energy by tapping domestic reserves. The North East has been a focus of that strategy, though progress has been slow because of territorial disputes, insurgency, and infrastructure gaps.

Officials said the pact would accelerate investment in the energy sector and create new economic opportunities across the region. Sarma called it an example of cooperative federalism and described it as the beginning of a "new era" for the eight North Eastern states, which the government often refers to as Ashtalakshmi.

The Centre has not released a timeline for when drilling or extraction might begin. The next step will involve awarding exploration blocks and conducting seismic surveys, processes that typically take 12 to 18 months before any production starts.