Eastern part of India to become new ‘growth engine’: President

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday outlined the Narendra Modi government’s vision for a new India and said that eastern India was going to become the new ‘growth engine’ for the country. He was addressing a the budget session of Parliament on Thursday.

He added that this was one of the reasons why the Narendra Modi-led government was relentlessly striving to strengthen transport infrastructure in eastern India. “My government believes that the eastern part of India comprising east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and the states of the north-east, has the potential to become a new ‘growth engine’,” Kovind said.

The president said that be it the country’s fastest train, the highest bridge, the longest sea-link, the longest tunnel, or construction of highways at double the speed, the government was rapidly developing modern infrastructure in all these areas. He specified that a facelift for railway stations and metro projects in cities along with air connectivity among small towns and construction of a new waterway would all help India reach new heights.

He also highlighted that the Modi government was focusing on environment-friendly infrastructure and electric mobility was a big move on that front. The president said his government had eliminated all unmanned railway crossings, which numbered around 8300 at the time it stepped into office.

The president said the government was working towards bringing about a transformation through transport and tourism in order to make the lives of the people of the north-east easier. Almost all the railway lines of the north-east have been converted to broad gauge. Efforts are under way to provide rail connectivity to the capital cities of all the eight states. For this, work on 15 new rail lines is on at a cost of approximately ₹50,000 crore.