Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at the foundation stone laying for extension of Terminal Building at Surat Airport in Gujarat
My dear brothers and sisters,
Today marks the death anniversary of revered Bapu and I am going to dedicate the National Salt Satyagraha Memorial recreating the spirit of Bapu's Salt Satyagraha later today at Dandi. From Surat, the city of Karmayogis, I pay my obeisance to Bapu. Surat has a deep connection with Bapu's Salt Satyagraha. Hundreds of Satyagrahis from Surat were associated with Bapu. Moreover, it was one of the first centers of the country where salt law was opposed even before the Dandi March.
Surat always respected Gandhiji's values. Be it cleanliness, Swavalamban or Swadeshi, Surat has always emulated Gandhi's philosophy. And I am glad to see the entire team of Dhawal. I met Dhawal in Delhi. All these youngsters - some are engineers, or chartered accountants, or teachers or businessmen - are determined to work for cleanliness and have dedicated themselves to cleanliness. I congratulate all these youngsters for the same. Today, along with diamonds and fabrics, this small city is boosting Make in India through small scale industries.
Friends,
Today, projects worth hundreds of crores of rupees have been inaugurated and their foundation stones have been laid to further strengthen the spirit of Surat. It includes not only the expansion of the Surat Airport, but also inauguration and laying the foundation stone of dozens of projects to make the city smart. I congratulate all of you, the people of Surat, for all these projects related to development.
Friends,
Our government is working to develop a new culture of Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business in the country. Our priority and emphasis is on development of infrastructure, and connectivity in the country for the same. Surat is one of the cities of our country that adds a feather in the cap of our country which is world's fastest growing economy.
Every person of Surat knows about a recent international report, but perhaps the countrymen may not know. As per the report, in the coming 10-15 years, all the fastest growing top ten cities in the world will be from India. And it is a matter of great delight. Which city is at the top among those 10 cities? Is Surat feeling proud? Congratulations to Surat!
It is clear. This means that the future belongs to Surat and the cities of India. These are going to be the centers of economic activity not only in India but all over the world. There is going to be investment from all over the world. Business will grow manifold. Lakhs of young people are going to get employment opportunities.
Friends,
When the world is so optimistic about India's cities, it is our responsibility to prepare these cities for the present as well as the future. And it is also true that preparing Surat for the future means taking not only Surat's infrastructure, systems, education, and healthcare to greater heights but also the mindset of the people here. And with this idea, we are coming up with all types of projects related to connectivity across the country one after the other.
This Surat airport has become the third largest airport in Gujarat, i.e. it has become a busy airport. The work for the new terminal has started from today. On its completion, it will have the capacity to manage 1200 domestic and 600 international passengers. This means that this airport will be able to handle 1800 passengers in a day. The Surat airport also has a capacity of four lakh passengers annually. With the kind of expansion work being carried out here, the capacity of the airport will increase from four lakh to 26 lakh passengers in the future.
Besides the passenger, the cargo capacity here is also going to increase. That is, in the coming days, all of you will be able to conveniently carry out your trade and business within the country and abroad. Businessmen who come here for business from abroad too will be able to save their time.
Friends,
I have been told that the Air India Express direct flight to Sharjah is also going to start from here in a few days. Initially this facility will be available for twice a week, but from March it will be available for four days in a week. This flight will also help all of you in terms of business. I congratulate you for this too.
Friends,
The government is engaged in connecting the entire country with air connectivity and the work has been expedited in the last three-four years for the same. Consequently, 17 airports have been upgraded or expanded and work is underway for many more airports. The government aims to develop 50 such airports across the country in the next four years which are either not in service or are being used very rarely.
Friends,
It is my dream to see that even the ordinary citizen can travel by air. For this, 'Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik' i.e. UDAN scheme was launched. Today I am pleased to say that UDAN has helped the country to be included in the world's fastest growing aviation market. With the UDAN scheme, 12 lakh seats in aviation sector of the country have been made available at low cost.
Under this scheme, around 40 airports across the country have been added to the country's aviation map. In Gujarat too, four routes - Porbandar - Mumbai, Kandla - Ahmedabad, Keshod - Ahmedabad and Porbandar - Ahmedabad have been connected under UDAN-1 and UDAN-2.
In the future, about a dozen small and major airports of Gujarat including Surat will be connected to different cities of the country through UDAN-3. It also includes areas of potential for water aerodromes or water airports such as Sabarmati River Front, Shatrunjaya dam and Statue of Unity. Those who want to visit Bhavnagar for pilgrimage will be able to reach there by a sea plane via Shatrunjaya dam easily. That is, in the future, a plane flying from Sabarmati River Front can land on the Sardar Sarovar dam. A similar project is being considered.
Friends,
Besides air connectivity, care is also being taken so that people do not have to travel to major cities for getting their passports made. In 2014, the total number of passport centers in the country was around 80. The people of Surat will keep in mind - in such a huge country with such a large population, even after 60-65 years of independence, there were only 80 passport offices in our country. How many? You speak in Gujarati - how many? 80!
You will be happy to know that after the campaign that we have run in the last four years, this figure has now crossed 400. See the difference between 80 and 400. Thinking big, doing more, doing well, doing it on time; and the people of Gujarat know me. Besides this, it has become easy to apply for passports through 'm-Passport Seva Mobile App'. There has been a considerable reduction in both distance and delays due to opening of more number of Passport Seva Kendras and simplifying passport rules.
Friends,
The Central Government is sincerely engaged in making the life of every poor and middle class person of the country simple and easy. Our effort is to keep our cities clean, prevent traffic jams, improve water supply and sewer facilities, ensure safety through CCTV cameras, improve law and order situation. All these facilities are being realized through 'Smart City Mission' and 'AMRUT Yojana'. Work is being done on a Mission mode with a focused approach.
Friends,
Dozens of projects that have been inaugurated or foundation stones for which have been laid here today are going to give further momentum to our campaign. There are many projects related to sewer, water, flyovers, roads and education. Besides this, thousands of houses have also been inaugurated and or their foundation stones have been laid under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. All these houses are supposed to enrich the lives of poor sisters and brothers of Surat.
Brothers and sisters,
Over 13 lakh houses have been built for the poor brothers and sisters living in the city during the last four and a half years. The work on 37 lakh houses is underway and the government has approved the construction of 70 lakh more houses in the cities. In this way, more than one crore 30 lakh houses have been constructed in the rural areas of the country since 2014. They have started living in those houses. They have also celebrated this Diwali in their houses.
You can guess how big this number is in itself, and the people of Surat must remember this figure. 25 lakh houses were built during the tenure of the previous governments. How many? How many? 25 lakhs! Tell me, how many? 25 lakh houses were built. Today the Bharatiya Janata Party government has built one crore 30 lakh houses to ensure that the poor and the homeless brothers and sisters get a solid roof over their heads. See, the difference between 25 lakhs in their period and 1 crore 30 lakhs in four years of our tenure.
If they had to do as much work as I am doing, it would have taken 25 more years for them to finish. Moreover, for the first time such a scheme has been brought by a government for the middle class. I would urge the people of Surat and the cities to understand the kind of benefits you can avail. Take advantage of it.
Such a scheme didn't exist in our country before the formation of our government. For the first time, such a scheme was made for the middle class. If a man from a middle-class family wanted to build his house as the children had grown up; there was no arrangement for them. The middle class was left to its fate.
For the first time, we have come and created a new category of houses for the middle class and provided relief in the rate of interest. And what is the benefit of this scheme? According to an estimate, if the middle class takes a loan of Rs 20 lakh and builds a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana taking a loan of Rs 20 lakh, then the interest will be reduced. And as a result, when he would repay the loan for the house to the bank, he will be able to save about 6 lakh rupees. That means a middle class family will be able to save Rs 6 lakh after building a house.
So many governments in India came and left; not a single government ever thought or did anything on these lines. It is our strength that we are concerned about the growing middle class families of India and with this the middle class youth who want to buy their house in the early years of their career have benefitted the most.
Some people ask - what was the benefit of demonetization? They should also ask these questions to the youth who are now getting the benefits of reduced house prices after demonetization. Questions should be asked to those poor and the middle class people whose dreams of owning a home have now come true. Otherwise, black money used to dominate the real estate sector before demonetization, and the people of Surat know it well. You know the names of the big shots.
Brothers and sisters,
Our government has also ensured that the money of the poor and the middle class people is not stuck up in housing projects by enacting the 'RERA Law'. Under the RERA Act, 30-35 thousand builders have got their registration done and according to the set rules, lakhs of houses are being constructed.
Friends,
Now LED bulb is also an example of how change takes place when government has willpower. The LED bulb which was earlier available for up to Rs 350 is now being made available for Rs 40-50. Now do not ask me if the Rs.40-50 bulb was sold at Rs.350, then where did the rest of the money go? Rajiv Gandhi had given this answer. He had said, if one rupee was given, only 15 paise reached the beneficiary. Everyone knows who took away the 85 paise.
In the last four and a half years, the government has distributed 32 crore LED bulbs, due to which about 16 thousand 500 crore rupees annually have been saved by the people on electricity bills. This money is mostly saved by the middle class families.
Similarly, our government's Mudra Yojana has given a new impetus to the dreams of the poor and middle-class youth. Earlier, if the youth thought about self-employment, he would face the problem of guarantee while taking loans from the bank.
Under the Mudra scheme, our government has given more than 15 crore loans without bank-guarantee! Just imagine, under this scheme, people have been given seven lakh crore rupees without bank guarantee to start their businesses. Out of these, there are more than 4 crore 25 lakh people who have taken loans for the first time. That is, in the last four and a half years, the country has also got 4 crore 25 lakh new entrepreneurs.
Brothers and sisters,
The greatest reason behind these elaborate plans and major decisions is the government with an absolute majority formed as a result of the power of each and every vote given by you. Now while I was giving the keys of the houses, you might be thinking that Modi is giving away the houses; someone would think that the Government of India is giving away the houses.
No, neither Modi nor the Government of India is giving away the houses; you are giving away the houses. This is the strength of your one vote by which the poor have received homes. It is the importance of your vote that gives the poor a home. And so the change you are seeing is due to the strength of your vote, not because of Modi's power.
Brothers and sisters,
You know that there has been a period of instability in our country for 30 years. A hung parliament was formed; no one got an absolute majority. Governments were run by manipulation. It moved towards one or the other person's whims. The country got stuck right there and went backwards in some aspects. For the last four-and-a-half years, we have been able to move forward. One of the main reasons for this is that the people of the country voted wisely and freed the country from the 30-year-old disease of hung Parliament and formed a government with absolute majority. And the new generation can see that the government with absolute majority can also take tough decisions, and major decisions. With courage, we can carry the country forward, and we have done it.
This is the importance of a government with absolute majority. The government of absolute majority is also accountable. Today anyone can ask me - tell Modiji, what did you do in four and a half years? Had there not been an absolute majority government, Modi would have said comfortably, “Oh, what to do, brother, it is a coalition government, it is very difficult to take some decisions". I could have easily said that. But no, the people of the country have enhanced the name of the country in the world by voting for a government with absolute majority. And so each and every voter understands the strength of his vote and sees his participation in the development of his country. So we have seen how the country has been growing in four-and-a-half years.
You try to recall, how governments used to be run? Tell me, today 70-72 airplanes are operating at Surat Airport. C.R. Patil ji was telling that 70-72 aero-planes now operate from here. But can we ever forget how we had to agitate for the airport here? How we had to give memorandum and knock the doors of the central government in Delhi? I was also tired of writing to the then Government at the centre as a Chief Minister. But there was a political motive in their minds as these facilities were not given to Surat and the funds were blocked.
I used to explain to them, Surat has the strength; airlines will benefit and the country will benefit; but they were not ready to listen. You tell me, the capacity has been increased from four lakh passengers to 26 lakh passengers. It had so much possibility, which we could see, Surat could see, but they could not see; because we work on the mantra of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.
Friends,
On the one hand, we are fully engaged in removing the shortcomings of the old system, and are trying to build a New India; while on the other hand, there are some people who keep making fun of our efforts. Those people who have not taken care of the country in the last six-seven decades only worry about themselves. They are unable to see this transforming India. Regardless of such negative-minded people, we are going to move forward. We are going to use the new energy of new India in development itself.
I once again congratulate you all for these projects that will make life and business easier.
You came here in such large numbers to shower your blessings, I am extremely grateful to you for that. Say loudly with me-
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Bharat Mata ki Jai!
Thanks a lot!