Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday flagged off work to build the Rs 8,300 crore Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor and other big ticket infrastructure projects aimed at giving a big push to development in Uttarakhand
Addressing a rally at Parade Ground in Dehradun, PM Modi said, “Today, I am very happy that the foundation stone of the Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor project has been laid. When it is ready, the time taken to travel from Delhi to Dehradun will be almost halved.”
Addressing a public meeting in Dehradun. https://t.co/i6nXAdiafu
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 4, 2021
The expressway will reduce the distance between the two cities from 248 km at present to 180 km.
He also laid the foundation stones of multiple development projects which will see an investment of Rs 18,000 crore pouring into Uttarakhand.
Addressing a rally at Parade Ground in Dehradun ahead of the assembly elections in the state, the Prime Minister said, “These projects will help make this Uttarakhand’s decade. In the last five years, the Centre has approved more than Rs 1 lakh crore for the development of Uttarakhand.”
“Today, India is moving forward with the intention of investing more than Rs 100 lakh crore in modern infrastructure,” he added.
Taking a swipe at the opposition, PM Modi said that the central government in the years 2007-2014 had only built 288 kilometres of national highways worth Rs 600 in Uttarakhand.
“Our government in its seven years has constructed national highways of more than 2,000 km worth Rs 12,000 crore in the state,” he said.
“Our mountains and culture are not only our faith but also the fortresses of our country's security. We prioritise ease of living for people living in the mountains. Unfortunately, it was nowhere in the policy strategy of those who remained in power for decades,” PM Modi added.
The other projects that the PM inaugurated include the 120 mw Vyasi hydro-electricity project, a 38-km long highway between Devprayag and Shrikot on NH-58 and a widened 33 km road between Brahmapuri and Kaudiyala on Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway.
He also announced that three new medical colleges would soon start functioning in the state.
Criticising the UPA, the Prime Minister said, “Earlier for 10 years there was a government in the country, which wasted valuable time of the country and Uttarakhand. For 10 years there were only scams in the name of infrastructure in the country.”
“ We worked twice as hard to make up for the loss caused to the country and are doing it even today.”. Talking about the changed working style, the Prime Minister said “today, India is moving ahead with the intention of investing more than Rs 100 lakh crore on modern infrastructure. India's policy today is of ‘Gatishakti’, to work twice or thrice as fast.”
