New Delhi, Dec 7 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated construction of the Agra Metro Rail Project through video conference on Monday and said efforts were on to attract investment from all over the world to improve the country's infrastructure.
He said one of the major problems of the country's infrastructure sector has been that new projects were announced but not much attention was given to where money would come from. His government had ensured necessary funds at the start of new projects itself.
Pointing out that more than Rs 100 lakh crore would be spent under the National Infrastructure Pipeline Project, he said work was also being done on Multi-modal Connectivity Infrastructure Master Plan.
Efforts were being made to attract tourists through schemes like ‘Swadesh Darshan’ and ‘Prasad’, he said and hoped that as the Corona situation improved, the charm of the tourism sector would also return.
He said reforms were now being carried out in a wholesome manner rather than in piecemeal manner. For the development of cities, work had been done at four levels--Resolution of long standing problems, Ease of living, Maximum investment and More use of modern technology.
The Prime Minister said there was trust-gap between builders and home buyers and people with some wrong intentions brought disrepute to the entire real estate sector upsetting the middle class. RERA's law was introduced to remove this problem, he said and added that all-round development from modern public transport to housing would make life in cities easier.
The Prime Minister said that post 2014, 450 km metro line had been operationalised as compared to mere 225 km before that. Also, work on the 1000 km long metro lines was progressing expeditiously. This work is on in 27 cities.
The Agra Metro project comprises two corridors with a total length of 29.4 km and connects major tourist attractions like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Sikandra with railway stations and bus stands. The project will benefit the 26 lakh population of Agra city and cater to more than 60 lakh tourists who visit Agra every year.
It will provide an environment-friendly Mass Rapid Transit System to the city of Agra at an estimated cost of Rs 8,379.62 cr which will be completed in 5 years.
UNI RB