Singur (WB): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched development projects worth over Rs 830 crore in West Bengal and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country.
At a function in Hooghly district’s Singur, Modi also inaugurated the Jayrambati-Barogopinathpur-Maynapur rail line, and flagged off a train between Maynapur and Jayrambati.
“All the central projects will accelerate the development of West Bengal. The central government is working to meet the goal of a developed eastern India,” the prime minister said while addressing the programme.
The PM laid the foundation stone for the Extended Port Gate System, including an Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal and a road over bridge, at Balagarh in Hooghly district, according to a statement issued by the PMO.
Spread over approximately 900 acres of land, Balagarh is being developed as a modern cargo handling terminal with an envisaged capacity of about 2.7 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The project aims to significantly improve cargo evacuation efficiency by diverting vessel movement away from congested urban corridors.
Noting that there are a lot of possibilities in the waterways sector in Bengal, the prime minister said the central government was working on this.
The launching of projects worth thousands of crores of rupees linked to West Bengal since Saturday was in the direction of the state’s growth, Modi said.
The PM had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 3,250 crore from Malda on Saturday.
Maintaining that the development of waterways is necessary for the development of West Bengal and India, he said, “This is the pillar on which a large hub can be made for the state’s manufacturing, trade and logistics sectors.”
The PM said more earning opportunities will be created if more stress is given on ports and related ecosystems.
He said the Centre has made huge investments for capacity expansion of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, which includes the Haldia dock complex, and roads under the Sagarmala project for better connectivity.
Claiming that the results of these infrastructural developments are evident, he said, “Last year, the Kolkata Port created a new record in cargo handling.”
