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PM inaugurates projects worth ₹56k-cr, slams ‘dynastic parties’
PM Modi inaugurates ₹56,000 crore projects in Telangana, highlighting economic growth, welfare schemes, and state development, while criticizing opposition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated multiple power, rail and road projects and laid the foundation stone for others, in Telangana, asserting the projects worth ₹56,000 crore will write a new chapter of development in several states.
Addressing a rally at Adilabad in Telangana, the prime minister said over 250 million people have risen out of poverty in the country, and attributed it to his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s welfare schemes, stressing that such campaigns will be further amplified in the next five years.
“Today, India is the only country in the world that has emerged as a large economy by clocking 8.4% growth in the previous quarter,” he said, adding that India’s growth rate has been a point of discussion across the world for the past three-four days. “With this pace, India will become the third largest economy in the world.”
The Indian economy continued to outperform, with GDP growth in the quarter ending December coming in at 8.4%, beating analyst estimates by around 180 basis points or 1.8 percentage points, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on last week.
Modi also hit out at opposition parties, saying they might have different faces, but their character of “jhoot (lies) and loot” was common. “The face of dynasty parties may be different but they have a similar character—jhoot and loot,” he charged.
Underlining his party’s welfare of tribal communities, Modi said the highest priority was being accorded in this connection. “The dynasty parties could not stand the work the (BJP) government is doing for the welfare of Adivasis (tribals),” he said.
Noting that the Union government led by him and the state of Telangana have both completed 10 years, Modi said the Centre has been providing all possible assistance to the southern state to fulfil the dreams of its people. Telangana became a state on June 2, 2014, when it was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
Emphasising that the nation’s development comes through the growth of states, he said with a better economy, trust in the country grows and that states also benefit from it as they get investment.
Recalling the alleged earlier neglect of regions like Telangana, Modi said there has been higher allocation for development of the state in the past 10 years. “For us, development means development of the poorest of the poor, development of Dalits, tribal people, backward people and the deprived,” he said.
Earlier in the day, chief minister A Revanth Reddy of the Congress received the PM on his arrival to the state. It was after a long while that a CM of Telangana has received PM Modi and shared the dais with him at an official event. When Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) chief K Chandrashekar Rao was chief minister, he had skipped the PM’s official visits to the state on several occasions.
Revanth Reddy, in his address, said the PM was like a “big brother” and that the state needs his support for it to progress like Gujarat, Modi’s home-state. Telangana, a Congress-ruled state, does not want a confrontation with the Centre and desires cordial relations, Reddy stressed.
“We would like to contribute to the ambitious target of a $5 trillion economy,” he added.
On the occasion, PM Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of around 30 development projects worth over ₹56,000 crore related not only to Telangana but the entire country.
Among the many projects, the PM virtually inaugurated National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC’s) 800 MW (Unit-2) of Telangana Super Thermal Power Project in Peddapalli.
He also threw open the 660 MW (Unit-2) of North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Project in Chatra, Jharkhand. This is the country’s first Supercritical Thermal Power Project conceived with an Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) of such large magnitude that it reduces water consumption to one-third compared conventional Water-Cooled Condensers.
Modi also inaugurated NTPC’s fly ash-based lightweight aggregate plant at Sipat, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and a plant that converts sewage to Green Hydrogen in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Besides, he laid the foundation stone of the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Project Stage-III (2x800 MW) in Sonbhadra, UP; Flue Gas CO2 to 4G Ethanol Plant at Lara, Raigarh in Chhattisgarh; Sea Water to Green Hydrogen plant at Simhadri, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh; and Fly Ash Based FALG Aggregate Plant at Korba in Chhattisgarh.
In addition, projects of the road and rail sector were also inaugurated or begun work on during his visit. Among those were the newly electrified Ambari-Adilabad-Pimpalkhuti rail line. He also laid the foundation for two major national highway projects connecting Telangana with Maharashtra and Telangana with Chhattisgarh through NH-353B and NH-163.
