Team News Riveting
Raipur, July 7
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said phenomenal growth had taken place in Chhattisgarh only in the last nine years, signaling the achievement of his government that came to power in 2014.
Even as Chhattisgarh gears up for the assembly elections due later in the year, Modi gifted infrastructure and welfare projects worth Rs 7600 crore. The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation four-laning of the 33-km-long Raipur-Kodebod section of the National Highway 30, the 53-km-long four-lane Bilaspur-Pathrapali stretch of NH-130, and laid foundation stone for construction of three sections (Jhanki- Sargi (43 km), Sargi –Basanwahi (57 km) and Basanwahi-Marangpuri (25 km)) as a part of the six-lane Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor NH-130 CD.
He also dedicated to the nation the doubling of the 103-km-long Raipur-Khariar Road Rail Line that has been built with an estimated cost of Rs 750 crore, a 17-km-long new railway line connecting Keoti-Antagarh, and a bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation with a capacity of 60,000 metric tonne per annum in Korba constructed at a cost of over Rs 130 crore.
The Prime Minister also started the distribution of 7.5 million cards to beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme and flagged off a new train from Antagarh (Kanker district) to Raipur.
“The development of the region gets delayed when the infrastructure is poor,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the gathering. The projects launched today will start a new journey of development in the tribal areas, he said, the agriculture, natural resources, mining and tourism sectors in Chhattisgarh will get a boost on completion of the projects.
He added that 3500 km of road was sanctioned for Chhattisgarh in the last nine years of which 3000 km had been completed.
He said mineral-rich states like Chhattisgarh had been benefitted with the change in mines and mineral policy. While Chhattisgarh got a royalty of Rs 1300 crore in 2014, it surged to Rs 2800 crore in 2012, Modi said. The District Mineral Foundation (DMF) also helped in acceleration development works in the remote area, he added.
The Prime Minister, while addressing a public meeting later, said even the efforts of the government in dealing with the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) had yielded positive results. From 126 districts, it has now been confined to 70 districts, Modi said.
