Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday lauded the efforts of the Uttarakhand government to improve their connectivity across the state. Addressing the Uttarakhand investors’ summit, the prime minister said, “The state is being connected through highways, railways, airways and various other means. More and more metalled roads are coming up in villages.”
He added that Chardham all-weather road and Rhishikesh-Karanprayag rail projects have been progressing at a fast pace. According to him, proper connectivity in the state will have a positive impact on the tourism sector of Uttarakhand.
Nature, adventure, culture, yoga, meditation— Uttarakhand has all that it needs to be a complete tourism package, an ideal destination, he said. “And now, with the introduction of a separate tourism policy by the Uttarakhand government, tourism has gained the status of an industry,” he said, adding that identifying thirteen destinations in thirteen districts of the state and planning to develop them as tourist spots will help create more job opportunities for the youth in tourism sector.
Modi also said Uttarakhand has immense possibilities of becoming an organic state. He said work has already been started to make it one through cluster-based organic farming. “Centre is also putting in efforts so that the organic produce can successfully reach the market… The Centre has also agreed to 100% Foreign Direct Investment in food-processing sector to strengthen it,” he said.
Modi claimed that India has secured its place in the list of countries whose food-processing sectors are prospering.
Requesting the investors to invest more in the agricultural sector, he said, such a step will play an important role in increasing the farmers’ income and condition in Uttarakhand.
Modi also said that every major institution in the world is predicting that in the coming decades, India is going to be the driving engine of the world’s growth. He said India’s economy had stabilized over the last few years, fiscal deficit had come down, inflation was under control and the middle-class strata in the society is expanding.
“The scale and speed at which reforms are happening are unprecedented. In the last two years, the central and state governments have ushered in more than 10,000 reforms. Thanks to this, India has made a significant jump of 42 points in the global ‘ease of doing business’ index,” the prime minister said.
