PM Modi Announced Schemes Worth Rs 4,800 Crore From Amreli

He inaugurated an aircraft unit in Vadodara with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez and announced to connect Gujarat ports with the rest of the country.

Amreli: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Gujarat on Monday where he and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez inaugurated the first aircraft unit in Vadodara. He also announced various schemes worth Rs 4,800 crore from Amreli where walked down memory lane to talk about the history of the city and the water management of the state.

Taking about the plan to connect the ports of Gujarat with other ports of the country, he said he would be back in his home state within a couple of days. During this, he also talked about his plan to connect the ports of Gujarat with the ports of the country in future.

Modi said this was the time for auspicious works as on one hand, there was the festival of culture and festival of development on the other. This was the new mark of India. The bond of heritage and development continued.

"Today I got the opportunity to lay the foundation stone and inaugurate many projects related to the development of Gujarat. Before coming here, I was in Vadodara where the first such factory in India was inaugurated. Both Vadodara and Amreli belong to the Gaikwads. The inauguration also included a 'Made in India' aircraft manufacturing facility for our Air Force. And I got the opportunity to come here and launch the Bharat Mata Lake," Modi said.

"Ever since BJP came to power in Gujarat, we have prioritised water. People's participation was done through the 80:20 scheme for building check dams, making farm ponds, renovating ponds, building Jal Mandir and digging stepwells. I remember when I used to go to all-India meetings as the Chief Minister and there a large part of the budget had to be spent on water in Gujarat. At that time, the Chief Ministers of many states were looking up to me. I told them that there are so many water-rich people in Gujarat, once we get water, my entire Gujarat will become water-rich. This power is in my Gujarat. And people, society and villages joined the 80:20 plan," he said.

The PM said 20 rivers were connected with Narmada and ideated making small ponds beside the rivers to save water for miles. People of Saurashtra and Kutch know the value of water as they are accustomed to the problem.

"We remember the time when the entire Saurashtra-Kutch was migrating due to lack of water and in cities, eight people were forced to live in one room. We have seen those days. Today, we have worked for water and have created the Jal Shakti Ministry, a first in the country. The situation has changed due to all these efforts," Modi said.

Talking about Narmada, he said, "I remember there was a time when we used to get merits by doing the parikrama (circumambulation) of Narmada. The era has changed as Narmada herself is roaming from village to village distributing both water and merits. When the government's water conservation scheme, Sauni Yojana, was launched, no one was ready to believe in its potential. But everyone's planning gave new life to the Kutch-Saurashtra region. When I used to tell the people of the country that I was installing such a big pipe that you would be able to drive a Maruti car through it, people were surprised. But that work has been successfully implemented".

On the occasion of 75 years of Independence, the government could have organised many programmes and promoted them in Modi's name. However, it planned to build 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district. As per the latest information, around 75,000 waterbodies have been created with more than 60,000 among them filled with water. This would be of immense help to the next generation, he said.

Talking about the campaign to conserve water, he said, "When we went to Delhi, we ran the 'Catch the Rain' campaign, the experience here came in handy. Its success has become a big example of encouraging people to save every drop of water. Fortunately, C R Patil is now in my cabinet. He has vast experience of Gujarat's water situation and now it is discussed all over the country. Patilji considers 'Catch the Rain' as a historic work. Along with Gujarat, many states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have also started building thousands of recharge wells with public participation."

He said many countries in the world receive scanty rain but save water and manage with whatever they get.

"If you ever go to Mahatma Gandhi's house in Porbandar, you will find a 200-year-old water storage tank underground. Our people had realised the importance of water 200 years ago. Amreli's Kesar mango has now received the GI tag. Natural Farming University was established in Halol, under which the first college of natural farming came up in Amreli," Modi said.

Talking about the PM Surya Ghar Yojana, he said 1.5 crore families had signed up for the subsidised rooftop solar power service with the panels already installed at two lakh roofs.