PM Modi reviews 9 infra projects worth over Rs 41,500 crore in 13 states

New Delhi, February 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reviewed the progress of nine key infrastructure projects valued at Rs 41,500 crore across 13 states, and urged union secretaries to use the GatiShakti portal for better planning.

The review happened as the PM chaired a meeting of the 41st edition of PRAGATI, the ICT based multi-modal platform for Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Centre and state governments.

Among reviewed projects three were of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, two of Railways and one each of the Ministry of Power, Coal, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Ministry of Health.

The nine projects have a cumulative cost of over Rs 41,500 crores and are underway in Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Prime Minister advised ministries and states to use the PM GatiShakti portal for planning of infrastructure projects. He insisted on expeditious resolution of land acquisition, utility shifting and other issues for timely completion of projects and emphasised ensuring proper coordination between central ministries and state governments.

During the interaction, the Prime Minister also reviewed ‘Mission Amrit Sarovar’ which entails water conservation efforts. He undertook real time view of Amrit Sarovar sites through drones in Kishanganj, Bihar, and Botad, Gujarat, and advised states to complete the work in mission mode ahead of monsoon so that rain water can be conserved.

PM called for block level monitoring for timely completion of the target of 50,000 Amrit Sarovars under the scheme.

Once the mission is completed, the expected increase in water holding capacity is going to be around 50 crore cu.m (cubic metres), the estimated carbon sequestration will be about 32,000 ton per year and expected increase in ground water recharge is over 22 million cubic metre.

Under PRAGATI, 328 projects with Rs 15.82 lakh crore cost have been reviewed till now.