Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 September 2025 laid the foundation stone and inaugurated various development works worth over ₹5,100 crore in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, marking a major push for Northeast development on the auspicious first day of Navratri. The visit spanned multiple sectors including power, connectivity, tourism and healthcare, underscoring the Centre's Ashtalakshmi vision for the eight Northeastern states.
The centrepiece of the visit was the foundation-stone laying of two major hydropower projects worth over ₹3,700 crore in the Siyom sub-basin: the Heo Hydro Electric Project of 240 MW capacity and the Tato-I Hydro Electric Project of 186 MW capacity. These projects will strengthen India's clean-energy base while leveraging Arunachal Pradesh's estimated hydropower potential of over 50,000 MW, the largest among Indian states.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of a state-of-the-art Convention Centre at Tawang, located at over 9,820 feet altitude. Designed to host more than 1,500 delegates, the facility aims to boost tourism, cultural exchange and national and international conferences in the frontier district. Additional projects worth over ₹1,290 crore covered road connectivity, healthcare, fire safety and working-women hostels. The State Cancer Institute in Itanagar, valued at ₹217.19 crore, was inaugurated to provide advanced oncology care.
PM Modi highlighted that Arunachal Pradesh has received over ₹1 lakh crore in central tax devolution in the past decade — 16 times the ₹6,000 crore received in the preceding ten years. He said Union Ministers have visited the Northeast more than 800 times under his government, reflecting a shift from symbolic to substantive engagement. The Prime Minister also announced the rollout of next-generation GST reforms and the GST Savings Festival, effective from 22 September 2025 under a simplified two-slab structure of 5% and 18%.