Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday hit back at ex-prime minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks that the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train project was a vain exercise.
“The bullet train project was in the making for six-seven years. It should have been developed much earlier but the government of the time was busy with corruption and scams, and did not get time for development,” Goyal who was in city to take part in BJP’s election campaigning, said at a press conference.
During his visit to Ahmedabad on Tuesday, Manmohan Singh had said that the bullet train project was an exercise in vanity, and would not benefit either Gujarat or the country. The Congress leader said that the government should have rather focused on improving safety and speed of the existing passenger rail network.
The railway minister claimed that the government was focusing on technology upgradation, improving railway infrastructure, and providing better passenger amenities. Goyal said that high speed rail corridors will boost connectivity and economic activity, and his aim was to have rail network of 10,000 km in the country.
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- “Demonetisation was the most important decision of the Modi government to tackle corruption and black money,” Goyal said.
- On charges that demonetisation has failed, Goyal said that Rs 3.68 lakh crore deposited in 17.73 lakh bank accounts are under scrutiny.
- Banks have lowered interest rates as they are flush with funds owing to demonetisation, he said.
