‘We can hear the roar of a self-reliant India’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, dedicated to the nation the New Bhaupur-New Khurja section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and its operation control centre at Prayagraj through video conference.
UP Governor Anandiben Patel, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister expressed happiness on seeing the modern rail infrastructure project being implemented on the ground.
He said, “Today, when the first goods train runs on the Khurja-Bhaupur freight corridor, we can hear the roar of the self-reliant India.”
The PM said the operation control centre at Prayagraj was one of the modern control centres and a symbol of the new strength of the new India.
The PM said infrastructure was the biggest source of any nation’s strength, adding that as India was moving fast towards the path of becoming a big economic power, the best connectivity was the priority of the country.
“The government is working on every aspect of modern connectivity. It is focusing on the five wheels of highways — railways, airways, waterways and i-ways,” he said, adding that the dedication of a large section of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor was a big step in this direction.
The PM stressed on the need for dedicated freight corridors. He said as the population grew, the economy grew, the demand on freight increased manifold and the dedicated freight corridor was planned to change this situation.
Initially two dedicated freight corridors were planned — Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust to Dadri..
The EDFC route has coal mines, thermal power plants and industrial cities. Feeder routes are also being made for these. The WDFC route has ports like Mundra, Kandla, Pipavav, Dawri and Hazira and it would be served through feeder routes.
The PM said the industrial corridor of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata were being developed around both these freight corridors. He said similarly north to south and east to west corridors were also being planned.
The PM said with such dedicated freight corridors, the problems of delayed passenger trains would be resolved and with this, the speeds of the freight trains would increase three times and the trains would be able to carry double the volume of goods.
The PM said industry, businessmen, farmers and consumers would be benefited from this dedicated freight corridor. He said the freight corridor would give a boost to eastern India which was left behind industrially.
He said about 60 per cent of the corridor fell in UP and it would attract a lot of industries towards the state.
He said Kisan Rail would also be benefited due to this dedicated freight corridor and farmers would be able to send their produce by rail to any big market across the country, safely and at a low price.
The PM lamented the huge delays in the past in implementation of the dedicated freight corridor project. He said until 2014, not even a kilometre of its track could be laid. He said after the formation of the NDA government in 2014, with constant monitoring and meeting with the stakeholders about 1100-km of the track work was completed in the next few months.
The PM said reforms had been undertaken at every level in the railways like cleanliness, improved food and drink and other facilities.
He said a major achievement in self-sufficiency of Railways related to manufacturing. He said India was now building modern trains and also exporting them and Varanasi was becoming a major centre for electric locomotives, while rail coaches manufactured in Rae Bareli were now exported.
He said the country’s infrastructure should be a mission to benefit many generations, not five years of politics. “If political parties have to compete, there should be competition in the quality of infrastructure, competition on speed and scale,” he said.
He advised people against damaging public property during demonstrations and movements. He said one should not forget one’s obligation to the nation while expressing one’s democratic right.