Nitin Gadkari promises ₹800 crore for Belagavi bypass

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that ₹ 800 crore would be given for development of Belagavi bypass Road and also assured requisite funds for development of Goa-Hyderabad Road.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that ₹800 crore would be given for development of Belagavi bypass road and he also assured requisite funds for development of Goa-Hyderabad road.

He was speaking at the public function organised to accord civic honour to chairman of KLE Society Prabhakar Kore and his wife Ashatai and mark the inauguration of new buildings of MBA and MCA of Vidyavardhak Mandal in Nippani of Belagavi district on Friday.

Beginning his speech with salutations in Kannada, Mr. Gadkari said their objective was to bring happiness to every corner of the country by ensuring good economy, potable drinking, good educational and healthcare facilities, and employment.

“In this region, because of sugarcane cultivation, the economic situation has changed and there is further need for taking steps for farmers’ welfare. There is good growth in manufacturing sector. Although farm sector is huge, it contributed only 14% to the country’s GDP. When Gandhi was engaged in freedom struggle 70% people resided in rural areas but now 30% of them have migrated to bigger cities,” he said.

Mr. Gadkari pointed out education and healthcare facilities in rural areas were still backward and unless facilities were made available in rural areas development and self reliance would be impossible.

On the developments regarding use of ethanol as an alternate fuel and the progress so far, Mr. Gadkari said that now it was now possible to produce ethanol out of wheat and maize apart from sugarcane. “In the coming days, all vehicles will run on ethanol, which is priced at ₹25 per litre. Instead of petrol stations, ethanol stations will come up. With ethanol being produced out of maize, the crop has started receiving good price. Our objective is farmers’ welfare and if farmers have money then automatically it will lead to progress in all fields,” he said.

Mr. Gadkari called on Mr. Kore to establish more educational institutions that would facilitate development of the region. Education would help in adaption of new knowledge to initiate economic progress, he said.

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi elaborated on how Mr. Gadkari through ‘Gram Sadak Yojna’ helped in development of road infrastructure in rural areas and how he also ensured infrastructure development across the country. On the advent of ethanol as an alternative fuel, he said that in the coming years use of ethanol would help in saving foreign exchange to the tune ₹1,99,000 crore annually.

Minister for Public Works Satish Jarkiholi said that already Mr. Gadkari and other Union Ministers had been urged to give priority to road and railway projects in the State.

Responding to the honour, Mr. Kore termed Nippani as his ‘Karma Bhoomi’ (workplace) and briefed how an educational revolution had been initiated in Nippani region by Chandrakanth Kothiwale. Elaborating on how KLE society had contributed to society, Mr. Kore said KLE society’s college would be opened in Mumbai shortly.

Published - October 04, 2024 08:16 pm IST