Nirmala Sitharaman Suggests Sikkim to Prepare Roadmap to Scale Up Organic Farming

"The state should have a straightforward progress chart on different phases of development in organic farming and look for opportunities in exports as well because of better price realization. "Its plan should also include millets," she added.

Sikkim became India's first fully organic state in 2016 after implementing organic farming practices on agricultural land. Sitharaman also urged that the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Vivek Joshi, visit Gangtok and meet with the State Level Banker Committee (SLBC) to conduct a thorough review of individual banks' performance in promoting specific government schemes and to ensure that no district is overlooked.

"Under the One District One Product scheme, banks can also finance common facility centres," she added. Sitharaman went on to say that Sikkim should join the national startup ecosystem so that startups can provide solutions to the dominant pharma industry and overcome connectivity issues.

"The state can take the initiative to call some of the tourism aggregators who facilitate homestays to boost tourism," she added.

Speaking about the provision of interest-free loans to states for capital expenditure, finance secretary T.V. Somanathan stated that the North Eastern states' share of these loans exceeds their share of national devolution as recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.

"In the current fiscal year, Sikkim is expected to spend approximately Rs 400 crore on schemes selected by the state government under the interest-free loan to states," he added. He also stated that Sikkim will be the primary recipient of the increased budgeted amount for the interest-free loan to states for capital investments.

Sitharaman also asked the state to keep a comprehensive database of tourism stakeholders. "In states with high tourism potential, such as Sikkim, the minimum expected is a clear database of people registered by the state tourism department," she added.