Vadodara, Sep 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday contrasted the expansion of India’s railway infrastructure since 2014 with what he described as the slow pace of project delivery under previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led Congress government, saying the country is now adding trains, coaches and freight capacity at a substantially faster rate.
Addressing the ‘NaMo 4 Viksit Bharat’ programme in Vadodara, PM Modi said that earlier governments would announce one or two new trains in a railway budget and then spend a year publicising the announcements.
“Today, one new train after another is being introduced throughout the year,” he added.
He said that several new services are being launched during the programme, including the new passenger service between Vadodara and Tanda Road, which is expected to benefit passengers from Vadodara, Chhota Udepur and Alirajpur.
The Jobat-Tanda Road railway line, part of the Chhota Udepur-Dhar project, was also dedicated to the nation.
PM Modi also highlighted what he described as a major increase in railway manufacturing after 2014.
“Since 2014, India has made around 50,000 modern railway coaches,” he said.
He then made a comparison with previous UPA government, saying: “The previous government could not build 50,000 toilets in 10 years.”
He contrasted that claim with the production of 50,000 modern coaches and the addition of nearly 2.5 lakh freight wagons to Indian Railways since 2014.
The remarks were delivered as the Prime Minister inaugurated and launched a broad package of transport infrastructure in Vadodara, including the completion of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor.
PM Modi said the railway budget for the current year had crossed Rs 2.75 lakh crore, describing it as several times higher than the allocation around 12 years ago.
He added that higher infrastructure spending generated employment not only while projects were being constructed but also after roads, railway lines, ports and other facilities became operational.
“When a road, railway, pipeline, port or airport is built, new industries begin to come up around it and new businesses arrive,” he said, linking infrastructure expansion with further employment opportunities.
The Prime Minister also used Vadodara’s industrial history to illustrate the wider manufacturing expansion.
He said the city had evolved from earlier textile and tile production into an industrial centre associated with oil and petrochemicals and, more recently, a major hub for micro, small and medium enterprises.
PM Modi referred specifically to the C-295 military transport aircraft manufacturing programme in Vadodara, saying the city is now known for the first “Made in India” military transport aircraft.
The railway expansion highlighted in the speech forms part of a larger infrastructure programme unveiled in Vadodara.
Three railway projects covering 329 km and costing more than Rs 9,700 crore received foundation stones.
These include the third and fourth lines between Vadodara and Ratlam, gauge conversion of the Miyagam Karjan-Choranda-Malsar section and doubling of the Vishwamitri-Dabhoi line.
The Prime Minister also said that infrastructure spending had wider consequences for manufacturing and employment, pointing to the production of rail coaches, locomotives and wagons as evidence of a broader domestic manufacturing base.
His remarks came against the backdrop of the full operationalisation of the Dedicated Freight Corridor network, nearly two decades after the freight corridor project was first conceived.
The final Western Dedicated Freight Corridor sections dedicated in Vadodara cover 326 km and cost more than Rs 20,700 crore.
–IANS
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