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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri lauded the government's efforts to strengthen the Indian economy in the past 10 years under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi.
While speaking in Chandigarh on Sunday, Puri said, "As per the public data released by IMF, our GDP is USD 3.95 trillion, and we are in the fifth position. Japan is in the fourth position with a GDP of USD 4.1 trillion. If our growth rate is going on at 7-8 percent and Japan's is flat, it's a matter of a few months, if not a year, and our economy will reach fourth place." Puri accused the Congress-led UPA government of ignoring investments in urban space. He said, "during the UPA government between 2004 and 2014, the expenditure on urban space was less than one lakh seventy thousand crores, and in the Modi government, in these 10 years, it has increased by 11-12 times to reach 18-19 lakh crores." The minister said capital expenditure will increase in the coming time, which is already increasing by 30 percent. In the interim budget, the union government announced capital expenditures of over Rs 11 lakh crore, an increase of 11.1 percent. Pointing out the expansion of metro projects by the government, he highlighted that the total metro length is now 945 km and is expected to reach 1,000 km, after which the country will have the tag of second largest metro train system. Puri added that in the last 10 years of PM Modi's tenure, 4 crore people have been allocated houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, adding that the government will add another 3 crore beneficiaries. Justifying the fuel prices in the country, he said that South Asian countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka have seen higher fuel prices with a jump of almost 70-80 percent. Canada, Australia, the US, Europe have also seen jumps in fuel prices of 30-40 percent. But, due to the central excise duty reduction by the central government, we have not had that much heat. The PM Modi-led government is seeking a third term in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, for which six phases of the elections have been completed. The seventh phase of the election is scheduled for June 1 in 57 constituencies in 8 states. The final result of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4. (ANI)
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