PM lays foundation stone for Rs 20k cr developmental projects in J&K

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of developmental projects worth over Rs 20,000 crore in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Sunday.

PM's first keystone visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the reading down of Articles 370 and 35A brought a new light to the area. One lakh people participated in the event in the J&K's Samba district.

The BanihalQazigund road tunnel and the Ratle and Kwar hydroelectric projects have a key stake in the projects.

For J&K, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced Modi's new industrial scheme which offers Rs 52,000 crore investments of which investments worth Rs 38,000 crore were inaugurated by the PM, in the Palli Village of Samba district. The new industrial wave is setting such a foundation in J&K that the proposed investment is likely to surpass Rs 70,000 crore.

The 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project and 540 MW Kwar Hydroelectric Project to be raised on the Kishtwar district's Chenab River were also inaugurated. In the next five years, J&K will see a rise in aggregate power generation capacity by 5186 MW, with 21 new hydropower projects lined up. The hydropower capacity of J&K was 3505 MW before 2019.

The power generation, transmission, and distribution sectors are being strengthened and modernised to be the backbone of the UT. The construction of the 8.45 km long Banihal-Qazigund Road Tunnel, which will decrease the distance between the two by 16 km and travel time by around 1.5 hours, is being raised to Rs 31,000 crore. It will be a replacement for the Jawahar Tunnel, which had its drawbacks.

The new tunnel is constructed at a lower elevation to make it less prone to avalanches. Road and Rail connectivity from Kashmir to Kanyakumari has been increased on the Centre's agenda.

In the past few years, J&K has seen only an upward trajectory with the installation of all-weather connectivity roads and tunnels, reducing the time and distance to a fraction. To enhance connectivity in remote areas of J&K, the government is constructing ropeway networks.

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