Modi inaugurates Pune Metro Rail, launches multiple development projects in city

Pune, March 6, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the Pune Metro Rail Project and launched multiple development projects in the city, underlining the need to complete development schemes in time.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Kosyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Union Minister Ramdas Athavale were amongst those present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Modi recalled the contribution of Pune in the independence struggle and paid tributes to the freedom fighters like Lokmanya Tilak, Chapekar Brothers, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Senapati Bapat, Gopal Krishna Deshmukh, R G Bhandarakar and Mahadev Govind Ranade. He also bowed to late Lok Sabha member Rambhau Mhalgi and late historian Baba Saheb Purandare.

The Prime Minister, who unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation earlier, paid tribute to the great warrior king. “This statue of Shivaji Maharaj, who resides in the heart of all of us, will awaken the spirit of patriotism in the younger generation,” he said.

Modi recalled that he had laid the foundatin stone of the Pune Metro Rail project and had now been invited to inaugurate it. "It also has the message that plans can be completed on time.”

"Pune has also continuously strengthened its identity in the fields of Education, Research & Development, IT and Automobile. In such a situation, modern facilities are the need of the people of Pune and our government is working keeping this need in mind.”

He said that, while metro services were available in very few cities till 2014, today more than two dozen cities are either being benefited by the metro services or are on the verge of getting them. Maharashtra, he said, has quite a significant share of this expansion in places like Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and Pimpri Chinchwad Pune.

“This metro will ease mobility in Pune, give relief from pollution and jams, increase the ease of living of the people of Pune,” the Prime Minister said. He also called upon the people of Pune, specially the well-off people, to make it a habit to use Metro and other public transport.

The Prime minister said the growing urban population is both an opportunity and a challenge. In order to cope with the growing population in the cities, development of mass transit system is the main answer. He listed a vision for the growing cities of the country where government is committed to provide increasingly more green transport, electric buses, electric cars and electric two wheelers.

And “smart mobility in every city, people use single card for all transport facilities. There should be Integrated Command & Control Centre in every city to make the facility smart. Every city should have a modern waste management system to strengthen the circular economy. There should be enough modern sewage treatment plants to make every city water plus, better arrangements should be made for the conservation of water sources,” he said.

He also hoped that such cites will have Gobardhan and biogas plants to create wealth from waste. Energy efficiency measures like use of LED bulb should be the hallmark of these cities. AMRUT mission and RERA laws are bringing new strengths in urban landscape, he said.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of rivers in the life of the cities and called for River Festivals in cities located on river banks to create a new awareness about the importance and preservation of these important lifelines.

Dwelling on the new approach to infrastructure-led growth in the country, Modi said, “The most important thing for the development of modern infrastructure in any country is speed and scale. But for decades, we had such systems that the completion of important projects used to take a long time. This sluggish attitude has been affecting the development of the country as well.”

"In today's fast growing India, we have to focus on speed and also on scale. That is why our government has prepared PM-Gatishakti National Master Plan.” Gatishakti Plan, he said will ensure an integrated focus as all stakeholders will work with full information and proper coordination.

"Along with modernity, the ancient tradition of Pune and the pride of Maharashtra are being given equal place in urban planning.”

The foundation stone of the Pune Metro Rail Project was laid by the Prime Minister on December 24, 2016.

He inaugurated a 12 km stretch of the 32.2km project today. The entire project is being built at a total cost of more than Rs 11,400 crore.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated and inspected an exhibition at Garware Metro Station and undertook a metro ride from there to Anandnagar Metro Station.

He also inaugurated the golden jubilee celebration of Symbiosis University in Pune as well as the Symbiosis Arogya Dham.

“Knowledge should spread far and wide, knowledge should become a medium to connect the whole world as one family, this has been our culture. I am glad that this tradition is still alive in our country,” he said.

Modi underlined the confidence of New India and mentioned that India is among the largest economies of the world and maintains the third largest startup ecosystem of the world. “Missions like Startup India, Stand Up India, Make in India and Aatmnirbhar Bharat are representing your aspirations. Today's India is innovating, improving, and influencing the whole world," he said.

He also highlighted India’s influence and said that the country is safely bringing out its citizens from the war zone through Operation Ganga during the Ukraine crisis. “Big countries of the world are finding it difficult to do so. But it is the growing influence of India that we have brought thousands of students back to our homeland," he said.

The Prime Minister underscored the changed mood of the country. He said “your generation is fortunate in a way that it has not suffered the damaging impact of the earlier defensive and dependent psychology. If this change has come in the country, then the first credit of it also goes to all of you, goes to our youth.”

The Prime Minister said that India has emerged as global leader in the sectors which were previously considered out of reach. India has become the second largest mobile manufacturer in the world. Seven years ago there were only 2 mobile manufacturing companies in India, today more than 200 manufacturing units are engaged in this work, he said. Even in defence, the Prime Minister said, India, which was recognized as the world's largest importer country, is now becoming a defence exporter. Today, two major defence corridors are coming up, where the biggest modern weapons will be made to meet the defence needs of the country, he added.

Modi called upon the students to take full advantage of opening of various sectors. Mentioning the recent reforms in the sectors of Geo-spatial Systems, Drones , Semi-conductors and Space technology, the Prime Minister said “the government in the country today trusts the strength of the youth of the country. That's why we are opening sectors one after the other for you."

“Whatever field you are in, the way you set goals for your career, in the same way you should have some goals for the country," he said.

He asked them to find solutions for local problems. He asked them to maintain their fitness and stay happy and vibrant. “When our goals go from personal growth to national growth, then the feeling of being a participant in nation building takes over," he said.

The Prime Minister also asked the student to select themes to work on every year and select these themes keeping in mind the national and global needs. He said that results and ideas can be shared with the Prime Minister's Office also.

NNN