Infrastructure as bridge to address social inequality: President Ram Nath Kovind

Infrastructure is the foundation for development in any country The government also views infrastructure as a bridge to address social inequality said President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the Parliaments joint sitting on MondayInvestment in infrastructure not only generates lakhs of new jobs but also has a qualitative impact enhancing ease of doing business facilitating faster transport and promoting economic activities across sectors the President saidSpeaking on the Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti National Master Plan to accelerate infrastructure development in the country the President was hopeful that it will usher in a new era of multimodal transport in India and the railways highways and airways will no longer be separate and isolated infrastructuresKovind said that around 36500 km of roads have been built in rural areas at the rate of more than 100 km per day and thousands of habitations have been connected with allweather roads As against 90000 km of national highways in March 2014 today we have more than 140000 km of national highways Under the Bharatmala Project construction of more than 20000 km of highways is in progress with an outlay of about Rs 6 lakh crore including 23 green expressways and greenfield corridors said President He also said that the DelhiMumbai Expressway is also nearing completion and will be the longest and fastest expressway in IndiaAddressing the joint session the President said that along with opening ways for development the modern infrastructure is also providing new strength to countrys security Border Roads Organization has constructed a transportworthy road at 19000 ft the highest altitude for such a road at Umling La Pass in Ladakh Even the most remote villages like Demchok in Ladakh Joling Kong in Uttarakhand and Huri in Arunachal Pradesh have been connected by modern roads he addedPresident also talked about new Vande Bharat trains and new vistadome coaches which have added new feathers to the Indian Railways In the last seven years 24000 km of railway route has been electrified Laying new railway tracks and doublelaning are also progressing rapidly Gandhinagar railway station in Gujarat and Rani Kamalapati railway station in Madhya Pradesh now provide new glimpse of modern India he saidLauding the governments efforts for its work in public transportation field President informed the joint session that eleven new metro routes have been commenced benefiting lakhs of people in 8 states every day He said that India is now also among the four countries in the world having largest driverless train networks We have also developed Indigenous Automatic Train System in the country which symbolizes the growing capability of Make in IndiaThe government has also accorded approval for the construction of 21 greenfield airports in the country among which is the countrys biggest airport coming up at Gautam Buddh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh said President KovindMore than 80 connectivity projects are also in progress under the Sagarmala program to connect the countrys important commercial hubs with ports So far 5 existing National Waterways and 106 new waterways in 24 States have been declared as National Waterways taking the total number of National Waterways to 111 Out of these 23 waterways are viable for transportation of cargo With the objective to modernizing infrastructure more than 27000 circuit km of transmission lines have also been laid by the government President said in his joint session addressThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever