Modi govt spending Rs 12 lakh cr on infrastructure development annually: BJP leader

Bhopal, Oct 14 (PTI) BJP general secretary Arun Singh on Tuesday alleged that the UPA government spent only Rs 2.5 lakh crore on infrastructure development annually, while the dispensation led by Narendra Modi is spending Rs 12 lakh crore every year.

Talking to reporters, he said that after Prime Minister Modi's "swadeshi" call to promote indigenous goods, the BJP was launching a country-wide campaign to turn it into a mass movement.

"PM Narendra Modi always thinks how the country can become self-reliant as only through self-reliance will we realise the resolve of a developed India," Singh said.

A self-reliant Madhya Pradesh is a strong pillar of a self-reliant India. The resolve of a self-reliant Madhya Pradesh will be realised through double-engine governments, he said.

Various programmes are being organised across the country and the state with the goal of demonstrating the mantra of swadeshi in every home to the entire world as our strength, according to him.

Post-independence, the Congress ruled the country for a long time. The dispensations led by it reserved several major sectors, such as cement, iron and industrial equipment, for government control. But in 1991, the era of liberalisation and globalisation arrived, and these sectors were privatised.

"Even after that, Congress governments remained in power for a long time, but they never thought about the developing the country's infrastructure. During the UPA government, only Rs 2.5 lakh crore were spent on infrastructure development. But after he became the PM, Modi resolved that the country's infrastructure should be world-class," he said.

Today, the Modi government is spending Rs 12 lakh crore annually on infrastructure, according to him.

The steps being taken by the PM to make the country self-reliant and developed are beginning to yield results, Singh said.

India has surpassed Japan to become the world's fourth-largest economy, and will soon leave Germany behind to occupy the third spot, he added.

"PM Modi gave the 'Make for the World' call, and today we are the world's second-largest mobile phone manufacturer. In the defence sector, everything from ammunition to bulletproof jackets used to be imported, but he decided to produce defence equipment domestically," he said.

"As a result, today we are manufacturing rifles, ammunition, bulletproof jackets, and missiles like Akash and BrahMos. These are the same missiles that destroyed terrorist bases in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor," the BJP leader said. PTI MAS NP