Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated multiple power, rail and road projects and laid the foundation stone for others, totalling more than Rs 56,000 crore, in Telangana, where Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of Congress received him and shared the dais with him.
In his brief address, the prime minister highlighted India's economic growth.
He said that more than 25 crore people have risen out of poverty, and attributed it to his government's welfare schemes. He stressed that such campaigns will be further amplified in the next five years.
Modi said the projects worth Rs 56,000 crore will write a new chapter of development in several states.
Today, India is the "only country" in the world that has emerged as a large economy by clocking 8.4 per cent 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 3-4 days. "With this pace, India will become the third largest economy in the world." State Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took part in the PM's official function here. Union Minister and BJP state president G Kishan Reddy was also present.
It's after a long while that a CM of Telangana has received PM Modi and shared the dais with him at an official event. When BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao was chief minister, he had skipped the PM's official visits to the state on several occasions.
Addressing the gathering, PM Modi said the land of Adilabad is witnessing development projects related not only to Telangana but the entire country, as more than 30 such projects worth more than Rs 56,000 crore are either being inaugurated or their foundation stone being laid today.
The PM noted that the central government and Telangana state have both completed 10 years and said the government has been providing all possible assistance to the state to fulfil the dreams of its people.
Emphasising that the nation’s development comes through the growth of states, he said that 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, the PM 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.
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, he stressed.
"We would like to contribute to the ambitious target of a USD 5 trillion economy," he added.
Among the many projects, the PM virtually inaugurated NTPC's 800 MW (Unit-2) of Telangana Super Thermal Power Project in Peddapalli. The foundation stone of the project had also been laid by the PM when the project was begun.
Based on ultra-supercritical technology, the plant will supply 85 per cent power to Telangana and have the highest power generation efficiency of approximately 42 per cent, among all NTPC power stations.
The PM 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.
The commencement of work was flagged off by Prime Minister Modi.
He 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.
Further, he also laid the foundation stone of the Singrauli Super Thermal Power Project Stage-III (2x800 MW) in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh; 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.
Modi also inaugurated seven projects and laid the foundation stone of a project of Power Grid Corporation of India. They will play a crucial role in strengthening the National Grid.
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s (NHPC’s) 380 MW Solar Project at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan was also thrown open by the PM. It will generate 792 million units of green power a year.
He also laid the foundation of Bundelkhand Saur Urja Limited’s (BSUL’s) 1200 MW Jalaun Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Park in Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh, which will generate 2,400 million units of electricity a year.
Three solar power projects of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) in Jalaun, Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh and Naitwar Mori Hydro Power station, along with the associated transmission line in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, were also inaugurated.
He also laid the foundation stone of two solar projects of SJVN in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh and Dhubri, Assam; and a 382 MW Sunni Dam Hydro Electric Project in Himachal Pradesh.
The foundation stone was also laid for TUSCO's 600 MW Lalitpur Solar Power Project in Lalitpur district of UP, expected to generate 1,200 million units of green power a year.
Modi inaugurated ReNew's Koppal-Narendra Transmission Scheme for 2,500 MW power from renewable energy. This interstate transmission scheme is located in Koppal district, Karnataka.
Other power projects of Damodar Valley Corporation and IndiGrid were also inaugurated by the PM.
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. PTI SJR VVK GDK ANE
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