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The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has said that Karnataka has been a leader and pacesetter in many areas of development and governance, including rural development, watershed development, urban development and panchayati raj. Addressing a meeting of State Ministers and senior officers at Bangalore today, he said that Karnataka was a State of which India was proud. He said that Bangalore was a brand, which the world identified India with and it was the single biggest reason why India was such a hot investment destination. He assured that the Government of India would ensure that this brand continued to grow in value to the benefit of the people of Karnataka and the country as a whole. The Prime Minister is on a two-day visit to Karnataka.
Dr. Singh said that the development of cities was important, as there were externalities that benefit both urban and rural areas. Therefore the focus would be on the development of both urban and rural infrastructure.
The Prime Minister said that the Government of India fully supported the Bangalore International Airport project and would like to see it come up on time.
The State Government made a presentation to the Prime Minister on some of the infrastructure projects planned by the State. Regarding the Bangalore Metro, he appreciated that a lot of work had already been done and that the State raised resources and a cess was in place. Terming it a good effort, he said that the Government of India would provide all possible support out of the Infrastructure Plans to ensure that this project took off.
Dr. Singh said that the Mangalore LNG terminal and power plant would be examined and either ONGC, or ONGC and NTPC combine, or some similar mechanism would be arranged. He added that some of the ideas presented to him on the urban projects needed greater detail and more financial planning. The Centre would try to cover these under the Urban Renewal Mission about to be launched, subject to certain necessary reforms in urban management.
The prime Minister said that the Agriculture Ministry was planning a major initiative in the area of Drip Irrigation and Micro Irrigation and Karnataka would be covered under this programme. The Prime Minister said that the Government would be giving a major boost this year to the Drinking Water Mission and Karnataka would also benefit from this. He said that a Horticulture Mission was being launched and Karnataka, being a major horticulture centre, should be a natural beneficiary.
DS/RK
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