Modi boosts up infrastructural development in Navi Mumbai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the Foundation Stone of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust Special Economic Zone (SEZ) , at Sheva in Navi Mumbai.

He also laid the Foundation Stone for widening of Port Connectivity Road from JNPT to the National Highway and symbolically handed over land allotment letters to JNPT Project Affected Persons under the 12.5 % scheme.

Addressing a large public gathering at the function site, the Prime Minister said his Government had conceived the Sagarmala, an ambitious project for maritime states. This would envisage not merely port development, but port-led development which would include ports, SEZs; and rail, road, air and waterway connectivity with the hinterland, including linkages of cold storage and warehousing facilities.

Noting that two-thirds of all global trade and 50 percent of container trade happens through the Indian Ocean, Modi highlighted the importance of the ports sector. “Ports can become gateways to India’s prosperity,” he added.

The Prime Minister said the Government is concerned at the large number of stalled SEZ projects across the country, and a high-level team has been constituted to review the problems and resolve them at the earliest.

The Prime Minister said export promotion was the need of the hour. “Until we join manufacturers in export promotion, and unless States and Centre work together, we cannot achieve new heights in exports” he observed. The Prime Minister added that the Union Government had recently convened a meeting with States to understand bottlenecks in exports, and States would soon be given the right to form their own Export Promotion Councils. “Let there be competition among States for exports,” the Prime Minister said.