Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Mumabi has kick-started the process of beginning two important projects in the city by laying the foundation stones for two Metro Lines, and affordable housing. These projects involve an investment of Rs 33,000 crores.
The Metro projects include the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan line (Metro 5) and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander (Metro 9) line sections of the city that will witness investment to the tune of around Rs 15,000 crores. These two projects are being carried out by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
Modi later launched the Navi Mumbai Town Planning Authority – CIDCO — mass housing scheme that would witness expenditure of about Rs 18,000 crores in providing as many as 89,771 affordable housing units under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
The Prime Minister later met with a delegation of film and entertainment industry representatives, who urged for lower and uniform rates of GST for the entertainment industry in India.
The delegation, which comprised of producers and CEOs of companies in the entertainment industry, expressed its strong support of the Prime Minister’s vision for making India a five-trillion-dollar economy in the near future, while also providing an overview of the vast growth potential of the media and entertainment industry in India, which is poised to contribute in a significant way towards this goal.
The delegation emphasized strongly for the development of Mumbai as the global entertainment capital through various initiatives and proactive approaches.
Noting that the Indian entertainment industry enjoys immense popularity across the world, the Prime Minister said it is one of the key elements of India’s rising +soft power+ status globally. Assuring the delegation that the Union Government is supportive of the media and entertainment industry, Modi said he would consider their suggestions positively.
Bollywood filmstars and other film delegates including Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Rakesh Roshan, Prasoon Joshi, Karan Johar and Siddhartha Roy Kapur were among those present at the meeting with the Prime Minister.
Later, addressing the Republic TV Summit here, Modi condoled the loss of lives in the Hospital fire incident in Mumbai yesterday. Emphasizing the importance of positive news for a vibrant and prosperous nation, he said India needed to scale great heights in multiple spheres like science, innovation, and sports, media etc.
Noting that the words “Surging India” represented the spirit of 130 crore Indians, the Prime Minister said that a few years ago, it had been difficult to imagine India surging towards becoming a five trillion dollar economy, and rising up the ranks in the ease of doing business.
The present witnessed those involved in criminal activities being apprehended and brought to justice, and the Union Government is moving forward through Policy Driven Governance and Predictable Transparent Policies, he said while highlighting the rapid pace of infrastructure development, monthly PRAGATI meetings chaired by him to review progress of projects through which projects worth Rs 12 lakh crores had been speeded up in this way.
Emphasizing that laws and Acts needed to be followed up by action, the Prime Minister also spoke about the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and noted that national interest now guides India’s foreign policy with the country’s voice being heard in the international fora.
Indicating that the 28% slab of GST would soon only be restricted to a few select items such as luxury goods, the Prime Minister said that the effort will be on ensuring that 99% of all items — including almost all items used by the common man — would be kept at a GST slab of 18% or less.
In another event, the Prime Minister also released a coffee table book titled “Timeless Laxman,” that is based on the famous cartoonist RK Laxman. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said he was happy to be a part of this timeless journey and remarked that studying Laxman’s work through the decades was a nice way of understanding sociology, and the socio-economic milieu of the times.
Pointing out that Laxman’s ‘common man’ was timeless and pan-Indian where all Indians and generations of people could identify with him, the Prime Minister mentioned how the process of Padma awards has been changed to bring into focus the common man.
