The Hindu : India among fastest growing economies: Vajpayee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 03, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

India among fastest growing economies: Vajpayee

By S. Vijay Kumar

The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, and the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, B.C. Khanduri (extreme right), after the `Bhoomi Poojan' for four-laning the Kanyakumari-Panagudi section of National Highway 7, in Kanyakumari on Monday. - Photo: S. James

KANYAKUMARI, FEB. 2 . The five years of "stability" and "good governance" provided by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have paved the way for India to emerge as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said today.

"The country is stronger than ever on the security and development fronts. We launched many ambitious programmes in the last five years and the National Highway Development Project (NHDP) is one among them," he said after performing the "bhoomi poojan" for four-laning the 30.6-km Kanyakumari-Panagudi stretch on the National Highway 7 here.

Mr. Vajpayee said the north-south and east-west corridors would revolutionise the road and transport infrastructure by connecting Srinagar with Kanyakumari and Silchar in the east with Porbandar (Gujarat), birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, in the west. The 5,846-km Golden Quadrilateral project to link the four metros was nearing completion.

"This will cover the entire nation, particularly State capitals and trading centres, in a comprehensive way with four-lane highways," he said.

Mr. Vajpayee lauded the National Highways Authority of India for launching the "Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana" to convert 10,000 km of high-density roads into four-lane routes. "Roads are the lines of India's destiny. We are waiting for the day to travel on this world class highways across the length and breadth of the country," he said adding that initiating the north-south corridor from Kanyakumari was a special occasion since the town was a symbol of India's unity and strength.

Amid applause from All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam cadres, Mr. Vajpayee showered encomiums on the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, for her "dynamic leadership" and "hard work."

`Speed up Sethusamudram project'

Presiding over the function, Ms. Jayalalithaa appealed to Mr. Vajpayee to expedite the Sethusamudram project, which, she said, would boost the economy. The Centre should favourably consider the Tamil Nadu proposal for declaring eight high-density roads as national highways.

The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, B.C. Khanduri, said the NHDP was a dream project of Mr. Vajpayee. "This project is the first of its kind in the world. About 24,000 kms of roads were being converted to four-lane or six-lane ones at an estimated cost of Rs. 98,000 crores. National highways also bring about social equality and national integration," he said.

The Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Pon. Radhakrishnan, and the Union Minister of State for Defence and Parliamentary Affairs, O. Rajagopal, participated in the function.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section

DIG shot dead in Srinagar mosque after Id prayers

India among fastest growing economies: Vajpayee

A.Q. Khan admits to transferring technology

Yet to decide on alliance: Mayawati

13 Indians confirmed dead in stampede

Bleach on hunger strike

DMK, Congress reach accord on seat-sharing

Three killed in naxal attack