Governor of West Bengal Shri CV Ananda Bose ji, my colleague in the Union Cabinet Shri Sarbananda Sonowal ji, Sukanta Majumdar ji, Shantanu Thakur ji, my colleague in Parliament Saumik Bhattacharya ji, Soumitra Khan ji, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari ji, other representatives, ladies and gentlemen!
Yesterday I was in Malda and today I have received the privilege of coming among all of you here in Hooghly. For a Developed India, the development of Eastern India—the Central Government is working continuously with this goal. The programs of yesterday and today are going to further strengthen this resolve. During this, I have had the opportunity to lay the foundation stone and dedicate development projects related to West Bengal worth hundreds of crores of rupees. Yesterday, the country's first Vande Bharat sleeper train started from West Bengal. Bengal has also received about half a dozen new Amrit Bharat Express trains. Today, three more Amrit Bharat Express trains have started. Out of these, one train will further strengthen the connectivity of my parliamentary constituency Kashi Banaras with Bengal. Apart from this, Amrit Bharat Express trains for Delhi and Tamil Nadu have also started. That is, for the rail connectivity of West Bengal, the past 24 hours have been unprecedented. Perhaps in the last 100 years, so much work has not happened in 24 hours.
Friends,
There are many possibilities for waterways in Bengal; the Central Government is working on this as well. Help is also being given here to build the necessary infrastructure for port-led development. A short while ago, the foundation stone laying and inauguration of projects related to ports and river waterways also took place. These are very important for the development of West Bengal, for the development of India. These are those pillars upon which West Bengal can be made a big hub of manufacturing, trade, and logistics. I congratulate all of you very much for these projects.
Friends,
The more we emphasize on the port and its related ecosystem, the more employment will be created here. In the last 11 years, a very big investment has been made by the Central Government on the capacity expansion of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Port. To improve the connectivity of this port, roads have also been built under the Sagarmala scheme. We can all see its result today. In the past year, Kolkata Port has created new records in cargo handling.
Friends,
The Extended Port Gate System to be built in Balagarh will open doors for new opportunities for Hooghly and surrounding areas. This will reduce the pressure of traffic and logistics in Kolkata city. Through the waterway that has been built on the Ganga ji, cargo movement will increase further. This entire infrastructure will help in making Hooghly a warehousing and trading hub. This will bring new investment of hundreds of crores of rupees here, thousands of youth will get employment, small traders and people associated with transport will benefit, and farmers and producers will also get new markets.
Friends,
Today in India we are giving great emphasis on multi-modal connectivity and green mobility. So that seamless transportation becomes possible, ports, river waterways, highways, and airports—all these are being connected with each other. Due to this, there is a reduction in both logistics cost and the time taken in transportation.
Friends,
Our effort is also that our means of transport should be nature-friendly. From Hybrid Electric boats, both river transport and green mobility will get a boost. This will make movement on the Hooghly river easy, the problem of pollution will reduce, and river-based tourism will also get a boost.
Friends,
India today is moving forward very rapidly in the production and export of fisheries and seafood. It is my dream that West Bengal leads the country in this. The Central Government, in its vision regarding river waterways, is supporting Bengal prominently. Its benefit has started reaching our fishermen friends along with the farmers here.
Friends,
All these projects being started by the Central Government will give speed to the development journey of West Bengal. Once again, I give you all many best wishes for these projects. Thousands of people in the neighborhood have been waiting for a long time, I have a lot to say there too, and perhaps people are more eager to hear that; I will talk a bit more openly there and therefore I pause my speech here. And I am leaving with all of your permission for the next meeting.
Thank you very much.
