Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday invited the global business community to explore investment opportunities in Assam, highlighting the state's strategic location, improving connectivity, expanding infrastructure, growing economy, skilled human resources and investor-friendly institutional framework.
Addressing the second edition of the ICC Global Business Summit in the national capital, the Chief Minister said the rapidly changing global economic and technological landscape presents India with a significant opportunity to diversify production, strengthen supply chains and deepen its integration with global value chains.
"The next phase of India's growth will depend on bringing more regions and enterprises into international and global value chains. India's next growth journey will emerge from the East and the Northeast. Our Prime Minister is calling this the time for Purvodaya," he said.
The Chief Minister said Assam was strategically positioned at the crossroads of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, sharing international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh and serving as a natural gateway to the ASEAN region.
He said the sustained focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on connectivity, infrastructure and development of the Northeast had transformed 'Assam's geography from a perceived constraint into a strategic advantage and brought the State from the periphery to the centre stage of India's development trajectory'.
Assam is not just preparing to attract investment, we are building the connectivity and logistics ecosystem that can make the State a gateway between India, the Northeast and Southeast Asia. pic.twitter.com/y4MhiKEkGP
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 18, 2026
"Today, with stronger linkages to national and international markets, Assam is steadily emerging as a hub of connectivity, enterprise and opportunity," he said.
Assam's economy expanding
Highlighting the state's economic growth, Sarma said Assam's nominal GSDP was estimated at Rs 7.45 lakh crore in 2025-26, with real growth of over 10 per cent, and was projected to reach Rs 8.71 lakh crore in 2026-27. The industrial sector is estimated to account for 35.64 per cent of the state's GSDP at current prices in 2025-26.
He said the figures reflected a broader economic transformation, with the state's economic base expanding, investment capacity strengthening and new opportunities emerging for enterprise and employment. The Chief Minister also referred to a recent Reserve Bank of India report which, he said, recognised Assam as the fastest-growing economy in the country.
Connectivity driving growth
Sarma said connectivity remained central to Assam's growth strategy, with the State developing a multimodal network integrating highways, railways, inland waterways, aviation and logistics infrastructure. The Multimodal Logistics Park at Jogighopa, expansion of the Pandu and Dhubri terminals, and development of the Brahmaputra as a navigable economic corridor are part of this effort, he said.
The state now has seven operational airports, with further expansion underway. The new terminal at Guwahati airport has been designed to handle approximately 13 million passengers annually. "These investments are reducing the cost of distance and creating new possibilities for manufacturing, logistics, tourism, services and regional trade," the Chief Minister said.
Rs 5.18 lakh crore investment commitments
Sarma said Assam's focus was not merely on attracting investment commitments but on converting them into projects on the ground. Referring to Advantage Assam 2.0 – Infrastructure and Investment Summit, he said the State received investment commitments of Rs 5.18 lakh crore, of which projects worth around Rs 3.5 lakh crore had been converted into investments on the ground within a year.
Some of these projects, he added, had already become operational. He further said that since May 2021, more than 3,700 new factors.