New Delhi, May 15,2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s policies in the last 10 years have resulted in an “exponential and unprecedented” infrastructure creation in the country across the roads, power, railway, ports and aviation sectors.

Taking to X, the Finance Minister cited statistics to drive home her point and criticise the erstwhile Congress government on its economic performance.

The Finance Minister said that a staggering 3.74 lakh km of rural roads have been built since 2014 under PM Gram Sadak Yojana which was almost double the figure of rural roads built earlier.

“Our government has worked to ensure stable, reliable power for all, impacting lives and driving economic growth. Under PM Modi, India has transformed from power-deficient to power-sufficient by adding 193 GW of generation capacity (249 GW to 442 GW),” Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out.

Investments in upgrades, grid modernisation, and smart technologies are being done to help reduce power outages, voltage fluctuations, and disruptions, the Finance Minister remarked.

“As of November 2023, the availability of power in rural areas increased from 12 hours in 2015 to 20.6 hours, and in urban areas, it increased to 23.8 hours while 100 per cent rural electrification was achieved in 2018,” she pointed out.

Nirmala Sitharaman also highlighted the fact that the share of renewable energy sources in total installed capacity has increased from 14.1 per cent to 32.5 per cent.

The Finance Minister also said that metro rail projects have significantly improved the ‘ease of living’ in urban areas by providing improved connectivity, reduced traffic congestion, and safe travel.

Since 2014, the Metro network has expanded around 4 times, from 248 km of operational lines in 5 cities to 939 km in 20 cities. As the first of the eight RRTS corridors, the Delhi-Meerut stretch will be completed by June 2025, she added.

Nirmala Sitharaman also said that India’s first state-of-the-art ‘Namo Bharat’ train with a design speed of 180 kmph has been introduced in the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor.