PM’s dream of development in J&K is becoming a reality: Puri

New Delhi, Nov 14: The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep S Puri on Monday said that the Prime Minister's commitment to the development of J&K is turning into reality and work regarding the same is in full swing.

He stated that the PM's development initiatives in J&K have created an emotional bond between the people and the country. "Central schemes directly benefit the people and I am glad that work is going on at the ground level," the minister added.

Addressing the media persons in Srinagar today Puri said people are investing in the economic development in the Union Territory of J&K because of the Central Government's farsighted decision to remove the bottleneck of Article 370 and 35A.

Puri said that a new dawn of development is now set in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 that could be judged from the fact that 25 new National Highway Projects have been sanctioned to be built at an estimated cost of 11,721 crores, 168 MoUs have been signed amounting to 13,600 crores, seven new medical colleges have been sanctioned with medical seats increasing from 500 to 955, world's highest railway bridge constructed in J&K, Vande Bharat Express is in operation from Jammu to Delhi and tourist footfall increased to more than one lakh.

Puri further said that under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, some 12 lakh LPG connections have been provided under PM Ujjwala, 50,000 houses have been sanctioned under PMAY (U).

The Minister also said that the petroleum prices have seen a sharp rise from July 2021 to August, 2022 with 43 percent to 46 percent increase in USA and Canada while as India is the only country in the world where only 2 percent increase has been seen during that period. When many countries in the world are witnessing the shortage of fuel and exorbitant price rise, there is no shortage of fuel in India even in the remotest corners of the country, the Minister added.

Interacting with the district administration officers in Srinagar, Puri said that the centre is committed to achieving new milestones with respect to growth and development in Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister reviewed the progress of work on various development projects and work done as per government schemes like PM Awas Yojana, PM Ujwala, PM SVANidhi, SBM 2.0 and Amrut 2.0.