Ahmedabad, 12 March

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government undertakes developmental works as a part of its mission to build the nation and not to win elections as perceived by some people.

The PM launched Rs 1,06,000 crore development projects for the country at an event in Sabarmati area of Gujarat's Ahmedabad city after visiting the Dedicated Freight Corridor's (DFC) Operation Control Centre near the venue, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. These comprise Rs 85,000 crore railway projects, including the launch of 10 new Vande Bharat trains, and a petrochemicals complex coming up at Dahej in Gujarat's Bharuch district with an investment of Rs 20,600 crore.

"Some people try to look at our efforts through the electoral lens. Let me tell you that we undertake developmental works as part of a mission to build the nation, not to form a government (by winning elections). We want to ensure that our youth do not suffer what their past generations had suffered. This is Modi's guarantee," the PM said.

Modi said that in the last 10 years, his government spent around six times more amount for the development of Railways than was done earlier. In just two months of 2024, his government inaugurated and laid the foundation of Rs 11 lakh crore projects, he added.

The PM said the railway sector in the country suffered heavily after the country's independence because the past governments prioritised "political motives" rather than development. "Earlier, lawmakers used to clap in Parliament over the railway minister's announcement of giving stoppage to a train or increasing the number of coaches. This was the thinking back then. What would have happened if such an attitude persisted in the 21st century too? That is why the first thing I did was to merge the railway budget with the main Union budget so that the Centre's fund is made available for the development of Railways," he said.

Earlier, it was common for trains to get late. Everything was left on the fate of the passengers, he said. Till 2014, only 35 per cent of the railway lines were electrified. The common people were suffering due to long queues, agents demanding commission and hours of waiting to get train reservation, the PM said. "I know this very well because I started my life on railway tracks," he said.

Modi said his government has shown a strong willpower to pull the Railways out of a "hell-like situation" and this sector's development is among their topmost priorities. The previous governments did not give priority to the doubling of railway tracks, he said.

Referring to the DFC, Modi said that for decades, there was a demand of separate tracks for goods trains. It would have increased the speed of both passenger and goods trains and was also necessary to boost agriculture, trade and export activities, he said. "But under the Congress regime, this project was either delayed or hit roadblocks. Today, we are inaugurating the freight corridor having a length of 650 km,'' said the PM.

At the venue, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of railway workshops, loco sheds, electric traction system upgradation work and dedicated to the nation two new sections of the Dedicated Freight Corridor and Western DFC's Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad.

He flagged off 10 new Vande Bharat trains between Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Mysuru- Dr MGR Central (Chennai), Patna- Lucknow, New Jalpaiguri-Patna, Puri-Visakhapatnam, Lucknow-Dehradun, Kalaburagi-Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru, Ranchi-Varanasi and Khajuraho- Delhi (Nizamuddin).

The PM also flagged off the extension of four Vande Bharat trains. The Ahmedabad-Jamnagar Vande Bharat is being extended till Dwarka, Ajmer- Delhi Sarai Rohilla Vande Bharat till Chandigarh, Gorakhpur-Lucknow Vande Bharat till Prayagraj and Thiruvananthapuram- Kasargod Vande Bharat till Mangaluru.