Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hinted that a second term in power would help him complete all the ongoing infrastructure projects started by his government.

Recounting the number of infrastructure projects started by his government, Modi, after laying the foundation stone for the third metro line in Pune, said, “It was Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s government which gave momentum to the expansion of metro networks. Atalji changed the infrastructure in cities and villages. After 10 years, we are giving speed and scale (to the work started by him). I have no hesitation in saying that if Atalji’s government had got some more time, metros in cities like Mumbai would have got connected to other parts.”

He castigated past Congress governments at the Centre saying that their leaders ignored transport and infrastructure development works started by Vajpayee and all these works were left incomplete because Vajpayee did not get more time to complete what he had started. “Our priority is creating ease of living and ease of doing business,” said Modi, adding that infrastructure is at the centre of all development programmes launched by his government in last four-and-a-half years.

“Today, metros have become the lifeline of cities. In the last four years, the government has expanded metro network in dozens of cities. About 300 km of new metro lines have been commissioned and proposals for 200 km lines have been passed. As a result, more than 500 km of metro network is operational today and 650 km is near completion,” said Modi.

He said the third metro line in Pune, which connects the city’s IT hub Hinjewadi to the main city, is special in a way as it is the first metro line which is being implemented as per the new metro policy where the PPP model is being used.

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