Pending projects top priority: Modi

Mumbai, February 18

The priority of the Union Government is to ensure completion of pending projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a function to lay the foundation stone for for the first phase of the Rs 16,700-crore Navi Mumbai international airport which will give a breather to the choked single-runway Mumbai airport.

“The issue of this airport has been pending for years. And it was not the only project. I realised that there were many such projects worth Rs 10 lakh crore when we took over. That is why we started the Pragati initiative to remove bottlenecks that were blocking these projects,” Modi said at a rally that marked the foundation stone-laying ceremony. “Tomorrow people will say these projects were conceptualised during our time, but why didn’t they finish it?” Modi asked.

The Prime Minister said his government was determined to make flying affordable for the common man. “We have made it possible for (air) tickets to be priced at just Rs 2,500. We have improved connectivity for the people of the North-East. There were just 450 aircraft flying in the country since Independence, but in the last one year orders for 900 new aircraft have been placed,” he said. — TNS