Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for VOC Port’s outer harbour container terminal and other development projects through the Ministry of Shipping, Waterways, Road Transport, and Highways and Railways at an estimated cost of Rs. 17,300 crore at a programme in Thoothukudi.
Addressing a huge gathering, the PM said these major development projects in Tamil Nadu will be a key to achieving substantial growth in India.
“The UPA government did nothing to fulfil the long-pending demand for establishing the outer harbour development in Thoothukudi, but the NDA government will make it a reality.” Modi said.
“Cargo traffic increased by 35 percent by handling 38 million metric tonnes witnessing an 11 percent increase over last year. Over the last 10 years, 1,300 km of rail infrastructure has been developed and 2,000 rail lines have been electrified.” PM added.
Modi further guaranteed to continue delivering the goods for the welfare of India for the third consecutive term.
“With the efforts of the Central government today, India is creating new records in the field of maritime and waterways. In the last 10 years, India has climbed several places to 30th position in the Logistics Performance Index,” the Prime Minister said.
He also said, “Our port capacity has doubled in this decade, National Water wages have increased by eight times, and the number of cruise passengers in India has also increased by four times. In the coming times, the growth of the maritime sector is going to increase manifold and it will have a big impact on the coastal states as well as Tamil Nadu. This will provide many new employment opportunities for the youth..”
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the Outer Harbor Container Terminal at VO Chidambaranar Port. The major infrastructure project aims to leverage India’s long coastline and favorable geographic location and strengthen India’s competitiveness in the global trade arena.