On 15.08.2003 the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced an initiative called “Sagar Mala”, under which all major ports and inland water / rivers were to be interconnected, road and railway networks were to be strengthened. However, successive governments (UPA 1 & UPA 2) did not take much interest in this project.
After NDA came back to power in 2014, the Modi government has accorded this project top priority. In fact, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants 100 smart cities to be built around it. He also wants the stalled and slowed-down industrial corridors, planned every 150-200 kms along the road / railway network, to be resumed and completed in a time bound manner. For this to happen, it was important to amend the “Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.”
