Anandi Patel and Saurabh Patel hail the Union Budget

GANDHINAGAR: Hailing the Union Budget, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Patel and Finance Minister Saurabh Patel today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for allocating exclusive funds towards projects like Ahmedabad Metro train and Statue of Unity in the state.

"Heartily thank PM Narendra Modi and Shri Arun Jaitley for allocating Rs 200 crore for the Statue of Unity as a part of the Union Budget," Chief Minister Anandi Patel said on micro-blogging website Twitter.

"We also thank the Union Government for allocating exclusive funds for the Ahmedabad Metro Project in Budget 2014," Patel tweeted.

The state government has itself spent Rs 565.60 crores on 'Metro-link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA)' project during last two years.

Finance Minister Saurabh Patel also expressed gratitude towards Modi.

"I, on behalf of the people of Gujarat, extend many thanks to Narendra bhai (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) for allocating Rs 200 crore for the Statue of Unity project," he said.

"The people of Gujarat had been waiting for so many years to get the nod to raise the height of Narmada dam. But the sanction was not given (to increase the height of dam). While, Narendra bhai gave the sanction just within 17 days from coming into the power. This shows BJP government's commitment to the people," Patel further said.

The state government, in its annual budget for the year 2014-15, has provided Rs 9,000 crore for the 'Narmada Yojana' after the central government gave its nod to increase the height of Sardar Sarovar dam recently.