In a charm offensive around the theme of development of Puducherry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a slew of projects, across the logistics, health infrastructure, heritage and pilgrim tourism sectors.
Seeking to connect with the people, Mr. Modi said, “I am here to personally assure all possible support from my government for the development of Puducherry.”
Inaugurating digitally three projects and laying the foundation for four others, worth an estimated ₹4,000 crore at a function in Jipmer, he said Puducherry, a beautiful land with rich talent pool, had potential for a lot of industrial and tourism development that would provide a lot of employment and opportunity.
Underscoring India’s requirement for world-class infrastructure to cater to its development needs, the Prime Minister, who laid the foundation stone for the ₹2,426 crore four-laning project of NH 45-A, said the 56 km Sattanathapuram–Nagapattinam stretch, covering Karaikal district, would improve connectivity and spur economic activity.
At the same time, it would improve access to the Saneeswaran Temple and provide easy interstate connectivity to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health and the Nagore Dargah.
Stating that the agriculture sector would gain from this, Mr. Modi said it was the government’s duty to ensure that innovating farmers get good markets for their produce. “Good roads do exactly that. The four-laning of the road will also draw industries in this area and generate job opportunities for local youth,” he said.
After laying the foundation stone for the Puducherry Port’s development under the Sagarmala scheme, he said once completed, it would help fishermen who have been using the port for venturing into the sea for fishing operations, as well as provide the much-needed sea connectivity to Chennai.
“This will facilitate cargo movement for industries of Puducherry and ease load on the Chennai port. It will open up possibilities of passenger traffic among the coastal cities,” Mr. Modi said.
Inaugurating the ₹28 crore Blood Centre in Jipmer, he said the new facility would accommodate advanced facilities for long-term storage of blood, blood products and stem cell banking. The facility would also function as a research laboratory and a training centre for personnel in all aspects of transfusion.
He also launched the Phase-I project of the Medical College Building on the Karaikal campus, which would house all modern teaching facilities required for MBBS students.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the re-built Mairie heritage building, recreated in its old form.
Laying the foundation stone for a 400 m synthetic athletic track at the sports complex in the city as part of the Khelo India scheme, he said once good sports facilities come up in Puducherry, youth from this region could excel in national and global sports meets.
The 100-bed girls hostel constructed at Lawspet, which was also inaugurated on Thursday, is another initiative to help sporting talent and will accommodate hockey, volleyball, weightlifting, kabaddi and handball players. The hostel students will train under SAI coaches.
Hailing Puducherry as “holy land”, whose divinity had brought him back again after a visit three years ago (for the golden jubilee celebrations of Auroville), Mr. Modi said, “Puducherry has a presence on India’s western and eastern coast. This land is a symbol of diversity. People speak five different languages, practice different faiths but live as one”