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Inaugurating the Eastern Peripheral Expressway and Phase One of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the four-year report card of the NDA government.
Since 2014, the Centre has built several highways, connected numerous village panchayats with optical fibre, increased train speeds and created jobs through the Make in India policy, said Modi. “There were two mobile manufacturing factories during UPA regime; now there are 120,” he said, adding that last year, there were more air passengers than travellers in air-conditioned trains.
Wooing the farmers of Uttar Pradesh, he said the sugarcane subsidy will be credited directly into their bank accounts instead of being routed through sugar mills.
(Earlier this month, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved a proposal to provide a production subsidy of ₹5.5 per quintal of the cane crushed during the current sugar season. )
Speaking at Baghpat after inaugurating the ₹11,000-crore Eastern Peripheral Expressway and the first phase of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, implemented at about ₹842 crore, Modi said the benefits of infrastructure accrue to all.
He further said the Opposition is spreading rumours on farmer issues and asked people not to give credence to such lies.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Delhi-Meerut Expressway will be completed by March 2019. Work on the ₹7,000-crore Dwarka Expressway connecting Haryana and Delhi has also started, he added.
Speedy implementation
The Centre took up the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, which bypasses Delhi to connect Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, after the respective States expressed inability to undertake the project citing lack of funds. The project had to be implemented speedily following a Supreme Court directive to decongest Delhi.
Gadkari said several other infrastructure projects will be completed soon. These include road projects in Haryana, UP and Delhi, and schemes to clean the Ganga and make it navigable.
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