The government is investing Rs 100 lakh crore in building modern infrastructure to make India a 5 trillion dollar economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
"India proceeds towards the goal of becoming a 5 trillion dollar economy, our cities too should become cities of the 21st century," he said.
In line with this goal, the Government is spending 100 lakh rupees in next 5 years on building modern infrastructure, which will benefit Mumbai and many other cities, Modi said performing the groundbreaking ceremony of a slew of infrastructure projects in Mumbai including Metro projects.
Modi highlighted the importance of future-ready infrastructure and noted that connectivity, productivity, sustainability and safety need to be considered while developing cities.
The PM said that to make transport easier, the Government is striving to build integrated transport systems.
Reflecting on the fast expansion of the metro system in India, the PM said that metro was present in only a few cities until recently, while today a metro is present or is being launched in the near future in 27 cities. “675 km of metro lines are operational today, out of which around 400 km became functional in the last five years; work is in progress on 850 km, while approval has been given for work on 600 km of metro lines," he said.
“A vision document has been released to provide better infrastructure for Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The document explains how to make best use of various modes of transport, such as Mumbai local, bus system. A master plan for Mumbai metro has been made," he said.
On the Mumbai Metro expansion, the PM said: “From 11 km today, the metro network of the city will increase to 325 km by 2023-’24. The capacity of the metro will become as much as that of the volume of people carried by Mumbai local today. The coaches which run on the metro lines will also be manufactured in India.”
Modi pointed out stated 10,000 engineers and 40,000 skilled and unskilled workers will get job opportunities due to the metro projects. Citing the examples of Navi Mumbai airport, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and Bullet Train project, the PM said that the scale and speed with which projects are being executed today is unprecedented.
The PM said that efforts are being made to develop India’s infrastructure in a holistic way, in order to fast-track development.
