GUWAHATI: The Congress accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of utilising his influence to help a firm his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma is associated with get a Rs 10 crore subsidy from the Government of India – a charge that he has dismissed.
A list of firms on the website of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries under “details of agro-processing cluster projects under APC Scheme” has the name of Pride East Entertainment Private Ltd in serial number 10. It is predominantly owned by the chief minister’s family.
The firm’s project cost is shown as Rs 25.877 crore and the grant approved is shown as Rs 10 crore on the list.
The subsidy, reportedly to establish a food processing plant in central Assam’s Nagaon district, is under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana’s agro-processing clusters programme. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries administers this programme.
Sharing a story done by a news portal on X on Tuesday night, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi had written: “Adarnya Pradhan Mantri Modi, your government has given Rs 10 crore subsidy to a private company run by the wife of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa’s wife. Is this revdi or rabri? Is this why people are paying tax?”
In another post, he wrote: “PM Modi launched the Kisan Sampada scheme to double the income of farmers of India. But in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma used his influence to help his wife’s firm get Rs 10 crore as part of credit linked subsidy. Are Central government schemes meant to enrich BJP?”
At this, Sarma broke his silence. Taking to X, he clarified that neither his wife nor the company she is associated with received any financial subsidies from the Government of India.
But Gogoi pointed out through a subsequent post on the microblogging site that the website of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries clearly showed the name of Sarma’s wife and the company she is associated with. He said the Rs 10 crore government grant had also been approved.
“Please report to the Union Minister if their website has been hacked,” he wrote.
Sarma reiterated that his wife and the company have not taken or received any subsidies from the Government of India.
Eventually, Gogoi attached the link to the website of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries for Sarma’s “convenience”, stating that it shows the list of companies and promoters who received the Rs 10 crore government subsidy.