New Delhi: Union Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, has stressed on the need of better integration among all stakeholders, particularly States and UTs, for the success of PM-Gati Shakti.
Addressing the PM-Gati Shakti Conference(Virtual) for the Central Zone today, Shri Scindia said that the success of PM Gati Shakti will catalyse the multi-model connectivity in the country, leading to realise the vision of $5 trillion economy. Gati Shakti initiative will not only help in bringing more investment in the country but also help create great employment.
The Union Minister said that many countries of the world including South Asian countries have focused on investment in infrastructure sector in the last 70 years and all of them have become developed countries now. Under the able leadership of the Prime Minister, PM- Gati Shakti is a great initiative to make India a superpower of the world, with the prowess of best infrastructure. In the earlier governments, there was no determination about the formulation and implementation of developmental schemes, but now the picture has changed, he added.
The Minister said that during the previous governments, whereas only one AIIMS was built in 10 years, now in the regime of current government,15 AIIMS have been built in the last seven years. Only 74 airports were built in the last 70 years, now 66 more Airport have become functional in last 7 years and India has total 140 Airports as on date. The cargo capacity in the ports has increased from 1280 million metric tons to 1760 million metric tons during the period.
Shri Scandia stressed that PM- Gati Shakti which will cost Rs 100 Lakh crore, is indeed a campaign to transform India into a global superpower. This historical milestone will be achieved with the coordinated effort of all the states and UTs. 16 ministries of the central government will work in close coordination to make this possible. The scheme envisages multi-modal connectivity, economic zones, industrial zones, agriculture zones, cargo zones and smart cities, which will boost production, transport, demand and employment in the country.
The minister underlined that 16 new airports will be built in all five states of central India which took part in the conference. An airport will be built at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. Airports will also be built in Ambikapur, Bilaspur and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. Nine airports will be built in Uttar Pradesh, one in Rajasthan and two in Maharashtra. National Highways of one lakh km will be widened under the PM- Gati Shakti.
Shri Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, Minister for Industry Policyand Investment Promotion, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh,Shri Amitabh Jain, Chief Secretary, Chhattisgarh,, Shri Rajeev Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, AAI, Shri Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, and Shri Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Investment Promotion, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh were also present on this occasion. The day-long event also included a technical session where state representatives and stakeholders presented their action plan and progress report on the Gati Shakti related initiatives.
PM Gati Shakti is an initiative aimed at synergizing the infrastructure projects of all key infrastructure Ministries including Railways, Roadways, Waterways and Aviation for planning and coordinated execution of nation-wide infrastructure projects including all the State Governments.This zonal conference will help the centrally located states to be on board for integrated Planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects for overall growth and development of the nation.
