'Modi govt spent Rs 3,960 cr per year on rail works in Guj, six times more than UPA'

Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Gujarat has seen huge progress in the railway sector ever since Narendra Modi became prime minister, with the Central government spending Rs 3,960 crore annually on works in the state between 2014 and 2022.

In comparison, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre spent just Rs 590 crore annually on railway works in the state between 2004 and 2009, Shah said after inaugurating and laying foundations stones of several railway projects in Sabarmati Assembly seat in Ahmedabad, which is a part of his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. "Ever since the Modi government was formed (at the Centre), Gujarat has witnessed a lot of progress in the railway sector in a short time. Under Congress rule at the Centre between 2004 and 2009, it spent Rs 590 crore annually in Gujarat on railways. Narendrabhai raised it from Rs 590 crore to Rs 3,960 crore between 2014 and 2022," he said. The opposition does not look at such data but it was due to this reason that people had been voting the BJP to power, the Union minister said on the second day of his visit to the state. Shah inaugurated a 430-metre long passenger platform and ticket booking office at Chandlodiya railway station at Sabarmati, while a railway underpass between Chandlodiya station and Khodiyar station, expected to give relief from traffic jams and provide connectivity, was also commissioned.