PM Narendra Modi's day-long Gujarat visit: From jobs to blaming UPA, all you need to know in 10 points
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a slew of measures today during his third Gujarat visit of the month. He launched the first ro-ro ferry service of the country and blamed the UPA for delaying development projects.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in poll-bound Gujarat on a day-long visit to inaugurate India's first roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) service and lay foundation stones of a number of projects worth more than Rs 1,400 crore.
PM Narendra Modi addressed public rallies, talked about the development projects planned for Gujarat and accused the previous UPA government of the Centre of deliberately delaying projects for political reasons.
Emphasising that his government was committed to development, Narendra Modi - addressing a public rally at Dahej in Bharuch district - said that the process of taking "important decisions" regarding the economic reforms will continue.
The prime minister's assertion came at a time when the Opposition parties have upped ante against the Modi government over demonetisation and GST rollout in the wake of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections. The Gujarat polls are being seen as big test for the BJP as it is the first Assembly election after Narendra Modi became the prime minister.
- On a day-long visit to Gujarat, Modi also reached out to traders, saying their past records will not be checked by the income tax department if they join the formal economy by getting themselves registered under the GST regime. "After all reforms and hardcore decisions, the economy of the country is on track and is going in the right direction," Modi said.
- "If we have a look at the figures which have come recently, the production of coal, electricity, natural gas and other items has increased tremendously. Foreign investors are making record investments in the country. The foreign exchange reserves of the country have reached 40,000 crore dollars from 30,000 crore dollars," Modi said.
- "In the last few months, 27 lakh additional people have registered themselves for this indirect tax... No businessman wants to indulge in tax evasion. But tax rules, system, tax officials and even politicians are forcing them to do it," he said, adding, "I know, that those who are joining have fear that their past records will be checked. I assure you that no tax officials will be allowed to open past records of those who want to come in the mainstream."
- PM Modi said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has stopped corruption at check posts on borders of each state. "The GST has eliminated check posts on borders. Trucks do not have to wait for days and corruption at check posts has stopped. Now, those who used to take contracts for ensuring passage of your trucks through the check posts are naturally very angry with me," Modi said.
- PM Modi today inaugurated the first phase of the roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferry service connecting Saurashtra with south Gujarat, amid a political row over the delay in announcement of poll dates for the state. While launching his "dream project", Modi blamed the previous UPA government for delaying the venture by creating hurdles in the name of environment.
- Modi, who is visiting the state for the third time this month, also took the first trip in the ferry from Ghogha to Dahej with 100 visually-impaired children from Bhavnagar. "This is the first of its kind project not only in India, but also in South-East Asia," Modi said at Ghogha.
- Describing the ro-ro ferry service as his "dream project", Narendra Modi said, "I had laid the foundation stone for the project in 2012, but for doing work in the ocean, you had to remain dependent on the central government then. There were such people in the central government that they had put a ban on development from Vapi to Mandvi in Kutch along coastal Gujarat."
- "All over, industries were threatened to be closed down in the name of environment. I know how many challenges I had faced for the development of Gujarat," he said attacking the Congress-led UPA government.
- Hailing the project as a "precious gift to the country from Ghogha", Modi blamed the erstwhile UPA government for ignoring the shipping and port sector. "In the past decades, shipping and port sectors were ignored. To modernise the sector, the government has begun Sagar Mala programme," Modi said, adding that Sagar Mala project can provide one crore jobs to youths.
- PM Modi further said, "Had they (the Congress-led UPA government) understood the power of the ocean, the people in this region would not have been forced to leave their homes for work in other cities," adding that development of ports was crucial to the overall progress of the country.
(With PTI inputs)