Modi pins big hopes on Kutch district

The Kutch district will emerge as the most prosperous district of the country in the next five-ten years, claimed Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

He was in Kutch to dedicate the international container terminal at Mundra port and the rail link between Mundra and Adipur.

According to Modi, soon Kutch will become a model which other districts in the state and the country will strive to follow.

"Although this district has been devastated by natural calamities such as cyclones, earthquake and even droughts, the people of Kutch are special. Perhaps even now, this is the only district anywhere in India that has three airports, two special economic zones and two sea ports," Modi said.

He said that within the next five to ten years, Gujarat will be the most prosperous district in India.

Modi said while water - for drinking and irrigation - was the only issue that was hampering the development of the district, the Narmada canal project, which is at present being implemented by the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board, will ensure rapid economic development of the district.

"The entire Kutch district will have ample drinking and irrigation water in the next decade," Modi said.

Kutch member of Parliament Pushpadan Gadhvi said the response from the industry to the tax holiday announced in Kutch district, as part of its re-building, has been encouraqging.

"The total pledged investment in the district has exceeded Rs 5,000 crore," Gadhvi said, adding that he has been taking up the pending issues of industries operating in Kutch with concerned departments at the state government and central government level.

The Central government has announced a tax holiday for central excise for all industries setting up units in the district for the first five years after commissioning, and the state government has extended the tax holiday for sales tax as well for five years.

However, several issues, including the delay on the part of the railways in converting the Gandhidham-Palanpur rail line into broad gauge and the need for the state government to come out with a specific and clear SEZ policy were raised by industrialists operating in Kutch, during the visit of Union railway minister Nitish Kumar and Modi.

While Gautam Adani and others sought the quick completion of the gauge conversion so that containers could be transported right from Mundra to Punjab by rail, P&O Ports director, south Asia, Jimmy Sarbh asked for bypass roads for quicker movement of container trucks.

"If the railways allocates the remaining funds for gauge conversion on the Gandhidham-Palanpur line, then it will provide a huge boost to the business opportunities in Mundra," said Adani.

Jimmy Sarbh, while stressing that P&O was in Mundra to stay and expand its operations, there was a need for a wider draft, more trains on the route and by-pass routes for container trucks.

"We need more trains to be run on this route and this should happen quickly. Also, there ought to be by-pass routes for huge container trucks, so that the regular road traffic is not affected," he said.