The prime minister also referred to the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), popularly known as Assam Gas Cracker Project in the state's Dibrugarh district, which he had dedicated to the nation on 5 February, 2016.

Delivering the keynote address at the News18 Rising India Summit on Friday in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that 'Act East, Act Fast' is the mantra to take eastern India out of the cycle of backwardness.

"There has been a massive infrastructure push in road and rail sector in east India. 12 new airports are coming up in east India, out of which North East will have six new airport. A commercial flight has landed in Sikkim for the first time. When I say east, it also includes Bengal, Odisha and other parts of eastern India. This region has been bereft of development for too long. It has been left behind in the race for development," Modi said.

Driving home the point that North East India is no longer the neglected part of the country, he said, "Today I was in Manipur. As PM, this was my 28th or 29th visit to the North East. Those who think that we act east for votes have cut themselves from people’s hearts."

"When the North East goes from isolation to integration, it will truly lead to a Rising India," Modi said.

Poor or no power connection has always been a problem for the rural part of the country, particularly in the eastern part of India since Independence.

"After Independence, there were 18,000 villages where there was no electricity. Now, Rs 16,000 crore is being spent on electrification projects," he said. The prime minister said that out of all the villages that got electrified, 5,000 were from North East India.

The prime minister also referred to the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL), popularly known as Assam Gas Cracker Project in the state's Dibrugarh district, which he had dedicated to the nation on 5 February, 2016.

"In Assam, the gas cracker project was pending for 31 years, we started that project," Modi said while speaking about the petrochemical plant.