Jammu and Kashmir to get projects worth Rs 25,000 crore by March 2021: Piyush Goyal

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Jammu and Kashmir will get at least 25 projects worth an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore by March 2021, The Times of India has reported quoting Union Minister Piyush Goyal.

The Minister for Railways and Commerce was in Jammu on January 19 as part of a week-long public outreach programme initiated by the Centre to apprise people of the potential benefits of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status after nullification of Article 370 of the Constitution.

Describing Jammu and Kashmir as "jewel" of the country, Goyal said the Centre would come out with an industrial package for the Union Territory soon and expressed hope that it would attract large amounts of investment to the Valley. He asserted that development work has gathered pace in Jammu and Kashmir, especially after June 18, 2018 when the erstwhile state came under Governor's Rule.

“Employment opportunities are coming in sectors like irrigation, electricity, sports and tourism. Every languishing project has been cleared,” said Goyal.

Visiting Akhnoor on the outskirts of Jammu, Goyal inaugurated various projects there worth around Rs 6.7 crore, including a flood protection project, an indoor stadium and various roads completed under Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Yojna, besides addressing a public gathering.

The minister further said the prime minister gave his nod when more funds were demanded to speed up the work of the railway bridge which will link Katra and Banihal towns in Jammu and complete the railway track from Baramulla in north Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

"After the completion of the railway line, the whole country will get connected. Anyone travelling from Kanyakumari to Kashmir can feel proud...the bridge is an engineering marvel and our engineers and workers are doing a great job by building the world largest bridge," he said, adding "we will continue the pace of work next year and are hopeful of connecting this vital 111-km railway track by December 2021".

Besides Goyal, other Union ministers who visited different parts of Jammu as part of the week-long outreach programme included Smriti Irani, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Arjun Ram Meghwal, V Muraleedharan, Anurag Thakur, Jitendra Singh, RK Singh and Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

(With inputs from PTI)