21st century belongs to India, country to become ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the 21st century belongs to 140 crore Indians and that the country will become “Viksit Bharat” by 2047 even as he attacked the Congress saying the grand old party neglected the power sector.

Hailing the country’s Make in India ecosystem, he said, “we saw the might” of home-made “things” in Operation Sindoor, the military offensive launched at cross-border terror launchpads in Pakistan, post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Referring to the recent developments such as the hike in Income Tax exemption to Rs 12 lakh and GST rate reforms, Modi said the vision of the NDA government is “citizen-centric development” and pointed out that continuous reforms are being taken up to make people’s lives easy.

“As (Andhra CM) Chandrababu Naidu said, by 2047, the centenary year of independence, Viksit Bharat will happen. I can say confidently that the 21st century is going to be India's century. The 21st century belongs to 140 crore Indians,” the PM said in his address after inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for projects worth over Rs 13,000 crore.

Modi said today the world is seeing India as a new manufacturing centre of the 21st century and the basis of this success is the vision of a self-reliant India even as Andhra Pradesh is becoming a major centre for its success.

He alleged that 11 years ago, when the Congress government was in power, the per capita electricity consumption was less than 1,000 units and at that time, the country had to face challenges such as blackouts. Electricity poles were not even installed in our villages.

“Friends, from clean energy to the total energy production of the country, India is making new records in every sector. Today, electricity has reached every village in the country. Electricity consumption per capita has increased to 1,400 units,” he said.

The PM further said Andhra Pradesh now has visionary leadership in Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy Pawan Kalyan and that there was full cooperation from the Central government to the state.

He said with Google’s AI Hub investment, a new international sub-sea gateway will be developed in which several countries’ under-sea cable systems are linked. They will come up to Visakhapatnam on the eastern shore.

“Visakhapatnam will be established as an AI and connectivity hub. Not only India, but it will serve the whole world,” Modi said.

“In the last 16 months, the vehicle of development is moving very fast in Andhra Pradesh and unprecedented progress is taking place in the double engine government,” he said.

The PM said Andhra Pradesh is not only a land of self-respect and culture, but also the hub of science and innovation.

Several projects which were either inaugurated or laid foundation stone for today, will improve connectivity, support industries and better improve peoples’ lives in the state, he further said.

“The (defence) equipment that is manufactured here (in Andhra) will not only increase India’s defence exports, but we have seen the power of India’s equipment in Operation Sindoor,” Modi said.

Earlier, PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation for multiple projects worth Rs 13,430 crore here spreading across the state.

The projects span across key sectors such as industry, power transmission, roads, railways, defence manufacturing, and petroleum and natural gas.

He laid the foundation for the Transmission System Strengthening at Kurnool-III Pooling Station at an investment of over Rs 2,880 crore.

Likewise, he laid the foundation stones for Orvakal Industrial Area in Kurnool and Kopparthy Industrial Area in Kadapa, with a total investment of over Rs 4,920 crore.

Jointly developed by National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC), these modern multi-sectoral industrial hubs feature plug-and-play infrastructure and a walk-to-work concept.

These hubs are expected to attract Rs 21,000 crore in investments and generate approximately one lakh jobs, bolstering industrial development and global competitiveness in the Rayalaseema region of the southern state.

The PM laid the foundation stone for the six-lane greenfield highway from Sabbavaram to Sheelanagar at a cost of over Rs 960 crore. Further, the PM inaugurated the four-laning of Pileru-Kalur section road, widening from Kadapa - Nellore border to CS Puram and the four-lane Rail over Bridge (ROB) between Gudivada and Nujella Railway Stations on NH-165.

Further, Modi laid the foundation for and inaugurated railway projects worth over Rs 1,200 crore.

In the energy sector, the PM inaugurated Srikakulam-Angul Natural Gas Pipeline of GAIL India Limited, which was built at a cost of around Rs 1,730 crore and stretched around 124 km in Andhra Pradesh and 298 km in Odisha.

Similarly, he inaugurated Indian Oil’s 60 TMTPA (thousand metric tonnes per annum) LPG bottling plant at Chittoor, established at an investment of around Rs 200 crore.

Further, PM Modi inaugurated Advanced Night Vision Products Factory at Nimmaluru, Krishna district, established by Bharat Electronics Limited at an investment of around Rs 360 crore.

The PM inaugurated and laid these foundations after returning to Kurnool following a visit to Sri Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy Varla Devasthanam at Srisailam in Nandyal district.