Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Tuticorin will become the hub of green energy and Tamil Nadu will travel in the energy sector of the future. He laid the foundation stone for the outer harbour container port in Tuticorin and several other projects in a function held at V O Chidambaranar Port on Wednesday. He also flagged off the country’s first hydrogen fuel cell vessel and released the digital version of the coffee table book on lighthouses. He also dedicated the new railway lines and National Highway stretches in Tamil Nadu during the occasion.
Addressing the function, the Prime Minister said that in an integrated approach, we are launching waterways, road and rail transport for Tamil Nadu. The outer harbour container port, constructed for the cost of Rs 7000 crore, will greatly benefit Tamil Nadu and create a lot of development and employment opportunities, he said. He is not presenting a political party’s agenda but the development and growth. However, the state media won’t publish these facts and the state government won’t allow the media to tell the truth. But the ease of living in Tamil Nadu improved because of the concerted focus of the Union Government in developing the infrastructure in Tamil Nadu, he said.
Tamil Nadu has three major ports and a dozen minor ports. Under the Sagarmala project, the ports have been developed and the VOC port has achieved 35 % growth in the last ten years, said Modi. Due to the efforts of the Union Government, the country has achieved great success in the maritime sector and the country has progressed to 38th place in logistics. The exports have doubled, and maritime trade has increased eight times more and the number of leisure trips and tourists also increased in this decade. Tamil Nadu will progress in the maritime sector and reap the benefits of this growth, said the Prime Minister.
This country will give him the opportunity to serve the country for the third time. In that period, he would work hard to complete all the projects for which foundation stones were laid, he stated, and it is Modi’s guarantee, he said. He has been visiting many places in Tamil Nadu and basking in the love of Tamil people. And this love has prompted him to give a guarantee that he would return that love in manifolds, Modi added.
