Centre approved more than Rs 1 lakh crore for Uttarakhand's development in last 5 yrs: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Central government has approved more than Rs 1 lakh crores for the development of Uttarakhand in the last 5 years.

Addressing an event after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for multiple projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore in Dehradun said, "In the last 5 years, the Centre has approved more than Rs 1 lakh crores for the development of Uttarakhand. More than Rs 18,000 crores have been invested in today's developmental projects."

"Uttarakhand is not only the faith of the whole country but also the land of Karma Therefore the development of this region is the top priority of the double engine government," the Prime Minister said.

He further mentioned that India is moving forward with the intention of investing more than Rs 100 lakh crores in modern infrastructure.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of eleven development projects. This includes the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor (from Eastern Peripheral Expressway Junction to Dehradun) which will be built at a cost of around Rs 8300 crore. It will significantly reduce the travel time from Delhi to Dehradun from six hours to around 2.5 hours.

"Today, I am very happy that the foundation stone of the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor has been laid. When it is ready, the time taken to travel from Delhi to Dehradun will be almost halved," PM Modi mentioned

The economic corridor will have seven major interchanges for connectivity to Haridwar, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Yamunanagar, Baghpat, Meerut and Baraut. It will have Asia's largest wildlife elevated corridor (12 kilometres) for unrestricted wildlife movement. Also, the 340 metres long tunnel near Dat Kaali temple, Dehradun will help reduce the impact on wildlife.

Speaking on the occasion, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "Some people try to ruin our name and twist things in the name of politics, I'd like to tell them that till the time this current government stays in power, they can't do anything. We have to beware of such elements."

(ANI)