Sixteen New Airports To Be Built In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, And Maharashtra

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has stressed on the need for better integration among all stakeholders, particularly states and Union territories (UTs), for the success of PM Gati Shakti.

Addressing the PM Gati Shakti Conference for the central zone, Scindia said the success of PM Gati Shakti will catalyse multi-modal connectivity in the country, leading to the realisation of the vision of a $5 trillion economy.

The Gati Shakti initiative will not only help in bringing more investment in the country but also help create more employment.

The Union Minister said many countries of the world, including the South Asian countries, have focused on investment in the infrastructure sector in the last 70 years, and all of them have become developed countries now.

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, PM Gati Shakti is a great initiative to make India a superpower of the world, with the prowess of infrastructure.

In the earlier governments, there was no determination towards the formulation and implementation of developmental schemes, but now the picture has changed, he added.

The Minister said that during the previous governments, whereas only one All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was built in 10 years, now in the regime of the current government, 15 AIIMS have been built in the last seven years.

Only 74 airports were built in the last 70 years, now 66 more airports have become functional in the last seven years, and India has a total 140 airports as on date.

The cargo capacity in the ports has increased from 1,280 million metric tonnes to 1,760 million metric tonnes during the period.

Scindia emphasised that PM Gati Shakti, which will cost Rs 100 lakh crore, is indeed a campaign to transform India into a global superpower. This historic milestone will be achieved with the coordinated effort of all the states and UTs.

Sixteen ministries of the central government will work in close coordination to make this possible. The scheme envisages multi-modal connectivity, economic zones, industrial zones, agriculture zones, cargo zones, and smart cities, which will boost production, transport, demand, and employment in the country.

The Minister underlined that 16 new airports will be built in all five states of central India that took part in the conference.

An airport will be built in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, as well as in Ambikapur, Bilaspur, and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh.

Nine airports will be built in Uttar Pradesh, one in Rajasthan and two in Maharashtra.

Further, National Highways of 1 lakh kilometres will be widened under PM Gati Shakti.

PM Gati Shakti is an initiative aimed at synergising the infrastructure projects of all key infrastructure ministries, including the Railways, Roadways, Waterways, and Aviation for planning and coordinated execution of nation-wide infrastructure projects, including all the state governments.

The zonal conference will help the centrally located states to be on board for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects for overall growth and development of the nation.