India poised to become a developed nation by 2047: R K Singh

New Delhi Union Minister R K Singh on Friday said India is poised to become a developed nation by 2047, as the country is modernising its infrastructure at a rapid pace. Addressing a press conference Singh said, "Now we are transforming ourselves into a developed country. We will be a developed country." Stressing that India is modernising its infrastructure at a rapid pace, he said the total length of expressway at present is 3,106 km, which was 353 km in 2014. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will be a developed country by 2047.

The minister stated that the pace of infrastructure development is unprecedented and capital expenditure for the purpose has increased nearly five times since 2014, when the NDA government came into power and trebled since 2019. He stressed that there has been rapid pace of modernisation of infrastructure development in the country and cited the example of roll out of Vande Bharat Express service which is an engine-less train. Indigenously developed semi-high speed, Vande Bharat trains with best riding quality and fastest acceleration (100 Kmph in 52 second) were introduced on February 15, 2019. So far, 25 train sets have been started covering all the states having electrified tracks across India, the minister informed.

As many as 150 train services are targeted to be rolled out in the current year. More than 800 trains are planned by 2030, he added. The union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister informed that the capital expenditure by the government has increased to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, from Rs 7.5 lakh crore in 2022-23 and Rs 5.5 lakh crore in 2021-22. He further noted that the country's peak power demand has already touched 223 GW and 50GW of conventional power generation capacity is under construction. On renewable energy, he said India has plans to develop 50 GW renewable energy capacity per annum and aims to have 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. Singh further noted that India will be connected with the Kashmir valley by railway in the current financial year.

The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project of 272 Km started in 2004 will be completed in the current financial year to connect Kashmir valley with the rest of India by Rail link, he stated. Highest ever freight loading of 1,512 MT was achieved (150 per cent) in 2022-23, as compared to 1,058 MT in 2013-14. Infrastructure is being developed to create the capacity for doubling the freight loading by 2030-31, he stated. Highest-ever rail electrification of 6,565 RKm (route kilometer i.e. more than 10 times) was achieved in 2022-23, as compared to 610 RKM in 2013-14. About 91 per cent Broad Gauge network has been electrified till date and 100 per cent electrification of Broad Gauge will be achieved in the current financial year, the minister stressed. India is the 3rd largest domestic aviation market after USA & China, the minister said, adding that the number of operational airports doubled from 74 in 2014 to 148 in 2023.

The aircraft fleet size has increased from 395 in 2014 to 729 in 2023 and domestic passengers more than doubled from 61 million in 2013-14 to 136 million in 2022-23. He noted that the international passengers increased from 43 million in 2013-14 to 54 million in 2022-23 and under the UDAN scheme, 479 routes have been operationalized so far. The number of mobile phone subscribers has increased from 90.45 crore (2014) to 114.4 crore (2023) - about 24 crores new mobile subscribers added, he noted. The number of mobile broadband subscribers has increased from 4.56 crore (2014) to 81.19 crore (2023), he noted.