As Congress neglected the Northeast for the last 60 years, the BJP-led government at the Centre had to face challenges in accelerating the development of the region, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the Regional Ayurveda Research Institute (RARI) here, Sonowal said that because of the development initiatives undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Northeast is marching ahead to be at par with other parts of the country.

"Congress never gave importance to Northeast in the last 60 years due to which the region remained neglected despite its huge potential. Because of this, we had to face lots of challenges in accelerating the development of the region," said Sonowal, the Union minister of ports and Ayush.

"In the last eight years, connectivity in the region has developed manifold -- be it road, air, railways or waterways," he added.

The Centre has spent Rs 2,63,000 crore in the last eight years for the development of the region, he said.

Sonowal said good governance in Arunachal Pradesh was possible because of the anti-corruption initiatives taken by the Pema Khandu-led government.