PM Narendra Modi pushes for expediting projects in irrigation, affordable housing, toilets

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pushed for expediting projects in the areas of irrigation, affordable housing and toilets as he chaired a high-level meeting on infrastructure with focus on rural development, power, coal, renewable energy and petroleum and natural gas.

He reviewed the status of stalled projects in the infrastructure sector and was apprised of the steps being taken to enhance infrastructure creation in accordance with his vision for the 75th year of India's Independence, a PMO statement said.

The Prime Minister stressed on the need for government departments to work towards initializing spending of the budget in a focused manner right from the start of the financial year, it added.

He was given a detailed overview of the plans of various ministries for completion of pending projects within the current financial year.

The Prime Minister asked for specific data to be collected and presented on priority areas such as toilets, affordable housing and smart cities.

Reviewing rural infrastructure, Modi directed that the highest priority be accorded to the work envisaged under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana.

He said irrigation potential of all reservoir projects should be realized to the extent possible, the statement said.

He said that in urban areas, one of the priorities should be in creation of waste-to-wealth and efficient systems for waste water disposal and solid waste management in 500 cities.

In power sector, the Prime Minister reiterated his emphasis on electrification of unconnected villages at the earliest. A roadmap on this was presented to him.

The Prime Minister enquired about the progress on renewable energy goals and directed maximum focus on this area.

He said public spaces such as railway stations should be priority areas for adopting energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy.

Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Suresh Prabhu and Ashok Gajpati Raju were present at the meeting.

Senior officers from Niti Aayog, various infrastructure Ministries and PMO were also present.