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New Delhi : Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on January 31, 2022, stressed on the need of better integration among all stakeholders, particularly States and UTs, for the success of PM-Gati Shakti. Addressing the PM-Gati Shakti Conference (Virtual) for the Central Zone, Scindia said that the success of PM Gati Shakti will catalyse the multi-model connectivity in the country and realise the vision of $5 trillion economy. Gati Shakti initiative will not only help in bringing more investment in the country but also help create great employment.
The Union Minister said that many countries of the world including South Asian countries have focused on investment in infrastructure sector in the last 70 years and all of them have become developed countries now. Under the able leadership of the Prime Minister, PM- Gati Shakti is a great initiative to make India a superpower of the world, with the prowess of best infrastructure. In the earlier governments, there was no determination about the formulation and implementation of developmental schemes, but now the picture has changed, he added, according to a PIB release.
Scindia said that during the previous governments, whereas only one AIIMS was built in 10 years, now in the present regime,15 AIIMS have been built in the last seven years. Only 74 airports were built in the last 70 years, now 66 more Airport have become functional in last 7 years and India has total 140 Airports as on date. The cargo capacity at the ports has increased from 1,280 million metric tons to 1,760 million metric tons during the period, he said.
Scandia stressed that PM- Gati Shakti, which will cost Rs 100 lakh crore, is indeed a campaign to transform India into a global superpower. This historical milestone will be achieved with the coordinated effort of all the states and UTs. 16 ministries of the central government will work in close coordination to make this possible, he added. The scheme envisages multi-modal connectivity, economic zones, industrial zones, agriculture zones, cargo zones, and smart cities, which will boost production, transport, demand, and employment in the country.
The minister underlined that 16 new airports will be built in all five states of central India which took part at the conference. An airport will be built at Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. Airports will also be built in Ambikapur, Bilaspur, and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. Nine airports will be built in Uttar Pradesh, one in Rajasthan,and two in Maharashtra. National Highways of one lakh km will be widened under the PM- Gati Shakti.
Rajvardhan Singh Dattigaon, Minister for Industry Policy and Investment Promotion, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Amitabh Jain, Chief Secretary, Chhattisgarh,, Rajeev Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, AAI, Anurag Jain, Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India, and Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Investment Promotion, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, were also present on this occasion. The day-long event also included a technical session where state representatives and stakeholders presented their action plan and progress report on the Gati Shakti related initiatives.
PM Gati Shakti is an initiative aimed at synergising the infrastructure projects of all key infrastructure Ministries including Railways, Roadways, Waterways,and Aviation for planning and coordinated execution of nation-wide infrastructure projects including all the State Governments.T