Bhubaneshwar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto has promised that the Narendra Modi-led government’s infrastructural push will continue if elected again but does not make any big-ticket announcements in the sector.
The BJP, in its manifesto released Sunday, said that it would initiate feasibility studies for new bullet train corridors in North, South, and East India — a proposal already in the original bullet train project plan.
Work on the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train corridor is already underway, and the first stretch from Bilimora to Surat will likely be ready by 2026.
Besides, the manifesto also promised to expand access-controlled expressways to 15,000 km, a master plan to convert airports into regional international hubs, and more.
The manifesto also said that high on the agenda is an overall transformation of the railways sector. This will include building more world-class stations —both big- and medium-sized, expanding the fleet of new-age trains like Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat and Namo Bharat, and launching Vande Bharat sleeper trains for comfortable overnight journeys.
For passenger safety, the manifesto promised to expand the manufacturing, design and installation of the Automatic Train Protection System, also called the Kavach System, in a mission mode.
The manifesto also promised that the government would expand the high-frequency trains for regional connectivity to other major cities on the lines of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS, commissioned last October.
The government, the manifesto added, would also expand the metro network to cater to major urban centres, ensuring last-mile connectivity. In its 2019 manifesto, the BJP had announced a strong metro network covering 50 cities.
The manifesto also announced passenger amenities with the launch of a user-friendly app to provide all train-related services in a single app.
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New expressways, rural roads & airports
The manifesto also announced that the BJP-led government will continue its highway expansion programme, adding 15,000 km of access-controlled highways to India’s road network.
“We will construct ring roads around major cities to improve mobility and decongest cities,” the manifesto added.
The manifesto also promised the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to the remotest areas, where there are settlements, to ensure improved connectivity and access to healthcare, education, government services and markets.
Another promise is the development of new airports, helipads and aerodromes to enhance air connectivity.
“We will transform airports into multi-modal hubs with integrated transit facilities such as buses, metro and rapid rail among others by effective use of PM Gatishakti National Master Plan,” the manifesto read.
Other promises included the expansion of international airports and the introduction of the Amrit Kaal Civil Aviation Master Plan to transform airports into “regional international hubs, providing single-point connectivity to designated regions worldwide, with the vision to position Bharat as the leading aviation ecosystem of South Asia”.
The government, the manifesto said, will also expand the water metro services across all feasible regions, enhancing water-based public transportation networks and improving connectivity.
“We will revamp the legal framework to enable faster growth of our shipping industry to become globally competitive,” added the manifesto.
Also read: BJP falls short of 2019 poll promise of ‘doubling number of airports’, but regional traffic growing