Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth around Rs 5,950 crore in the northern region of the state on Monday. A major chunk of these projects worth about Rs 5,130 crore were railway related.
“A lot of railway work has been done today. Today, Gujarat has projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore,” PM Modi said in Gujarati, addressing a public gathering at Dabhoda village in Mehsana district. The railways, he added, will play an important role in the development of industry and tourism in the region. Dabhoda village is close to Vadnagar, the hometown of Prime Minister Modi.
The railway projects include a section of the Western Specialized Freight Corridor between New Sanand and New Bhandu and the expansion of the railway line between Viramgam and Samakhiyali into two tracks. This will include Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Morbi and Rajkot districts. Another venture was the Gujarat Railway Infrastructure Development Corporation’s project involving 29.65 km of railway between Katosan and Bechrajhi in Mehsana.
“Dedicated freight corridor between Ahmedabad and Mehsana will be a very revolutionary step… due to which the connectivity to the ports of Pipavav, Porbandar, Jamnagar will increase… Its benefits will accrue to farmers, industrialists and animal husbandry. And because of this, there is a great opportunity to expand the industry in the region. This will raise the prospect of North Gujarat becoming a logistics and warehousing hub,” PM Modi said. In this context, he also said that work on 2,500 km of dedicated freight corridors has been completed.
PM Modi also said that North Gujarat has a lot of opportunities for tourism. He pointed to Vadnagar as a place that will be a major tourist hub of north Gujarat, saying that after Kashi, Vadnagar is the second ‘avinashi nagar’ (city that was never destroyed) in India.
The Prime Minister added: “The Taranga Hill-Ambaji-Abu railway line will change the fortunes (of the region). It will pass through our region and broadband means you will be connected directly to Delhi. And because of this tourism will be developed in Tharanga, Ambaji and Dharoi.”
He further added, “Railways will play a big role in the development of industry and tourism in this region… Ambaji will have the best rail connectivity and the arrival of pilgrims from Delhi and Mumbai will be convenient.”
PM Modi also cited the recent recognition of Dordo Kutch village as one of the best tourist villages in the world. He added that Nada Bet in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat would also be developed in a similar manner.
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During his speech, PM Modi cited several initiatives of the Gujarat government and at the Centre. He said that the development of Gujarat and India can only become possible due to political stability and expressed determination to work harder for the development of the country and the state. “With the blessings of the land where I grew up, I will do much more hard work than before,” PM Modi said.
He sought the blessings of the people to work harder to develop India till 2047, the year India will complete 100 years of independence.
On Tuesday, PM Modi will visit the Statue of Unity to participate in the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.