Centre to provide Rs 2,000 cr for Godavari waterway
Hyderabad, May 5: Union Minister for Road Transport and Water Resourceas Nitin Gadkari on Saturday announced that the Central government will sanction Rs 2,000 crore for inland waterway on Godavari River.
He asked Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to come forward to take 10 percent equity each in the special purpose vehicle to be formed by the ministry to execute the project.
Gadkari was speaking at a function to lay foundation stone for four infrastructure projects in Hyderabad.
He said Godavari waterway project will transform the economies of the three states. Stating that a feasibility study has already been completed, the minister said he will order a Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Gadkari was confident that the work on this project can start this year and asked the Telangana government to submit the proposal.
The length of the National Waterway 4 will be 1,184 km from Nasik, where Godavari starts to Bhadrachalam in Telangana to Rajahmundry. It proposed to be extended to Krishna River from Wazirabad to Galagali for another 628 km.
Stating that he has so far ordered infrastructure works worth Rs.10 lakh crore, the minister said there was no dearth of money and he was ready to take up the project by mobilising funds including loans in foreign exchange at two percent interest.
Gadkari said that inland waterways are his dream project, which can double the exports by reducing the logistics cost by 50 percent. He believes this will boost industry and provide employment.
He said work on Buckingham canal and Swarna River waterway had already started. Ganga River will have four multi-modal hubs and this could facilitate transportation of goods from Varanasi to Southeast Asia, Bangladesh and Myanmar. He believes this can transform the economy of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Earlier, Telangana's Industry and Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao said since Telangana is landlocked state, it needs help in developing inland waterways. He said the Godavari waterway could facilitate movement of a ship from Bay of Bengal to Maharashtra via Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The minister said barrages being built under Kaleswaram project will have the provision to take ships to Godavari.
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Shiv Sena (UBT) to go it alone in local bodies polls, says Sanjay Raut
Nagpur, Jan 11: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said his party will contest the upcoming elections to the various local bodies alone.
Talking to reporters, the Rajya Sabha MP said the INDIA bloc and Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances were for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
"In an alliance, workers of individual parties don't get opportunities, and it hampers organisational growth. We will contest polls to the Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and other municipal corporations, zilla parishads and panchayats on our strength," he said.
He said party chief Uddhav Thackeray gave the party indications that it should go alone.
Hitting out at Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar for indulging in a blame game over the MVA's defeat in the state assembly, Raut said those who don't believe in consensus and compromise have no right to be in an alliance.
He further claimed that the INDIA bloc did not hold a single meeting after the Lok Sabha elections.
"We were not able to appoint even a convenor for INDIA bloc. It isn't good. As the largest party of the alliance, it was the Congress's responsibility to convene a meeting," the Sena (UBT) leader said.
Reacting to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's remark that he has never mentioned farm loan waivers in his speeches, Raut said, "Even if he hasn't spoken about it. Farm loan waiver and Rs 2,100 for Laadki Bahin beneficiaries are mentioned in the BJP's poll manifesto. These two promises have to be implemented. He is the finance minister in the BJP government, and he will have to do it."
To a query on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks during his first podcast that he is human and can make mistakes, Raut said, "He (Modi) is god. I don't consider him a human. God is god. If someone declares him an incarnation of god, how can he be a human? He is the 13th avatar of Vishnu. If someone who has been considered god says he is human, something is wrong. There is chemical 'locha'."
