Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various projects worth more than Rs 75,000 crores in Maharashtra today.
Referring to these 11 developmental projects while addressing a mammoth rally in Nagpur on Sunday, PM Modi said these were the “constellation of 11 stars” that would give a new direction to economic growth in Maharashtra.
Elaborating on the 11 stars, he said, “The first is Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, second Nagpur AIIMS, third is National Institute of One Health, fourth is ICMR research centre in Chandrapur, fifth is CPET Chandrapur, the project which has been started to reduce the pollution in Nagpur’s Naag river, seventh is the inauguration of Nagpur phase 1 and foundation stone laying of phase 2, eighth is Vande Bharat Express between Nagpur and Bilaspur, ninth is a redevelopment project of Nagpur and Ajni railway station, the tenth is the inauguration of maintenance depot of rail engine of 12,000 horsepower in Ajni and the eleventh is the inauguration of Koli-Narked route in Nagpur-Itarsi.”
“The projects which have been inaugurated today show a holistic vision of infrastructural development. AIIMS is one kind of infrastructure and Samriddhi Mahamarg is another kind of infrastructure. Vande Bharat and Nagpur Metro are two different kinds of the character of infrastructure,” he added.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister inaugurated Phase I of the Nagpur Metro rail project and purchased a ticket to take a ride on the Metro from Freedom Park to Khapri.
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone of Phase- II of the rail project, which will be developed at a cost of more than Rs 6700 crore.
During his journey from Freedom Park to Khapri, the Prime Minister was also seen interacting with students and those from the start-up sector and citizens from other walks of life.
The Prime Minister also said that India cannot afford to miss the fourth industrial revolution as such “repeated opportunities” would not come again.
Addressing a gathering after launching developmental projects in Maharashtra, PM Modi said India had already missed out on making the most out of the industrial revolutions in the past
Mentioning the need for permanent solutions to problems, the Prime Minister stated that the country cannot move ahead with shortcuts and highlighted that the “base of permanent development is infrastructure”.
He said a long-term vision is necessary for permanent development and solutions. The base of permanent development is infrastructure.
“South Korea was a poor country once, but it changed its fate through infrastructure. Today the Gulf countries have also made so much progress because they have modernised their infrastructure and become future-ready in the last 3-4 decades,” he added.
The Prime Minister also gave the example of Singapore’s infrastructure and said that the country made investments in infrastructure and made the right economic policies, and consequently it has become a “big centre of the economy” for the world.
“But India has got this opportunity now. In the earlier governments, the tax-payers who paid taxes, either it was used for corruption by the earlier governments or for strengthening the vote bank,” PM Modi added.
