29 stations will be modernized on a world-class basis for rail development in Punjab

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Mr. Som Parkash has thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwani Vaishnav for making a provision of Rs. 4 thousand 762 crore for rail projects in Punjab in the Union Budget 2023-24. He said that Vande Bharat Express train would be run between Delhi and Amritsar in the near future. He informed that a plan has been made to install ‘one station, one product, one stall’ at 15 stations in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference held in Jalandhar today to discuss the General Budget, Mr. Som Prakash said that at present work is going on in Punjab on 16 projects with a cost of Rs. 24,427 crore. He informed that under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, 29 railway stations of the state will be developed as world-class stations. Under which a provision of Rs. 99 crore has been made for Jalandhar Cantt. railway station and Rs. 460 crore for Ludhiana station. Since 2014, 350 railway flyovers and underbridges have been constructed. He said that the Modi government is committed to the development of industries. In this series, an integrated manufacturing cluster will be developed on about 1100 acres of land in Rajpura, Punjab, under the Amritsar-Kolkata corridor.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Som Prakash informed that 19.81 metric tonnes of food grains have been allocated in Punjab under the Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. In Punjab, 5.34 lakh toilets have been constructed since 2014 under the Swachh Bharat Mission Rural till December 2022, in which Rs. 664.05 crore has been provided by the Centre. While 1.03 toilets have been constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban. Loans worth Rs. 55.92 crore have been provided to 42 thousand 162 beneficiaries under PM SAVNidhi.  12.84 lakh LPG connections have been distributed under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in Punjab.

The Union Minister of State emphasized that providing clean potable water to the people is the priority of the government and under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 17.45 lakh households have been provided tap water connections in Punjab since 2019. On a question related to the welfare of farmers, Mr. Som Parkash told that a sum of Rs. 3998 crore has been deposited in the accounts of 23 lakh 4 thousand farmers of Punjab under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. In this way, a total of 98.36 percent farmers of Punjab have got the benefit of the scheme while it is 96 percent at the national level.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Som Parkash said that the Modi government is committed to the development of highways. Work is underway on about 460.42 km of highways in Punjab, for which a provision of Rs. 29 thousand 627 crore has been made. Looking at India’s industrial policy, India is becoming a suitable destination for foreign investment. Mr. Som Prakash said that after 2014 the per capita income has doubled and despite the poor economic conditions in the world today, India is steadily progressing in the economic field. He said that leaving behind countries like England, India has reached the fifth position in the economy. He said that 80 startups are being registered daily under the startup scheme and more than 90 thousand startups are operational in the country.