Bengaluru/Mysuru, Nov 13 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the measures taken over the past decade to strengthen India’s energy security had helped the country face challenges arising from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with confidence, and detailed the strides made in the energy sector over the years.
At back-to-back events in Bengaluru and Mysuru, the PM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 15,600 crore across Karnataka, in sectors including railway and energy. He also touched upon the advancements made in the space sector.
The initiatives launched by him include the Pink Line of Namma Metro in Bengaluru, with the PM travelling on the newly launched service with Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar after jointly flagging it off with the latter.
Besides, he flagged off a Vande Bharat train service, dedicated India’s first LED dome planetarium in Mysuru to the nation and addressed the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram, a Yoga and research centre run by S-VYASA, where he traced the global recognition Yoga has achieved over the past decade due to the country’s efforts to popularise it.
Modi inaugurated four redeveloped railway stations of Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road in the state under the Amrit Bharat station scheme. He also dedicated to the nation the 45 km Bagalkot-Wandal railway line doubling section, forming part of the 284 km Gadag-Hospet Doubling Project.
Addressing a gathering in Bengaluru, Modi said the armed conflict in and around Iran and the Gulf region had demonstrated the importance of energy security.
“This has also been a challenging period for India. However, the steps taken over the past decade to strengthen energy security have helped us face this crisis with confidence,” he said.
The measures included increasing domestic production capacity of petrol, diesel and LPG, developing crude oil storage facilities, expanding renewable energy, achieving nearly 100 per cent railway electrification and strengthening public transport.
Among the projects inaugurated was an LPG storage facility in Mangaluru, which will increase the country’s storage capacity by 80,000 metric tonnes.
The Devangonthi Marketing Terminal in Bengaluru will strengthen supplies of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel, while a compressed biogas plant will produce around 13 tonne daily.
India’s renewable energy capacity had crossed 300 GW, the PM said. Over 60 lakh families had installed rooftop solar plants under the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. Karnataka has 40,000 beneficiaries.
More than eight lakh solar pumps were also providing irrigation facilities to farmers in the state under PM-KUSUM, he said.
Modi inaugurated renewable energy transmission projects in Koppal, Gadag and Bidar worth around Rs 5,820 crore and laid foundation stones for projects in Davanagere, Chitradurga and Ballari costing over Rs 4,550 crore.
He inaugurated the 7.5-km elevated section of the Namma Metro Pink Line between Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere, built at a cost of around Rs 3,470 crore, and travelled on the train with Shivakumar, Governor Sudha Yadav and others.
The 21.25-km Pink Line comprises 18 stations, including six elevated and 12 underground stations. The underground section is still under construction, while the newly inaugurated stretch will open to the public from 6 am on November 14.
At the event, Shivakumar explained to the PM, the advantages of the double-decker corridor, which accommodates both a Metro line and a flyover to ease traffic congestion.
Describing Bengaluru as India’s Silicon Valley and a major engine of innovation, Modi said the city accounted for more than one-third of the country’s IT exports.
“In 2014, Namma Metro had a network of just 17 km. Today, its total network has expanded to more than 100 km. We are continuously scoring centuries,” he said.
Modi also flagged off a Vande Bharat train from Bengaluru to Madgaon (Goa) via Mangaluru and said Karnataka had received its first sleeper train in this series.
“Indian Railways is now leaving behind the outdated mindset of the colonial era. The country’s railways are creating a new legacy and heritage,” he said.
At the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Prashanti Kutiram, Modi lauded Yoga’s growing international acceptance and India’s efforts to promote traditional systems of medicine, including Ayurveda.
“Yoga has become a gateway for people across the world to understand India,” he said, adding that the discipline had reached schools, institutions and workplaces in several countries.
“Whichever country I go to, people discuss about Yoga with me over lunch and dinner,” he said, recalling that several world leaders had told him their family members were practising Yoga.
Further, more than 150 Ayurveda training courses had been recognised in different countries and India had signed memoranda of understanding with 28 nations to promote cooperation in the sector, he said.
Describing Yoga as a healthcare solution available at zero cost, Modi said it could help people overcome diseases and excessive indulgence in material pleasures.
In Mysuru, Modi inaugurated CoSMOS (Centre of Space and Modern Optical Sciences), India’s first LED dome planetarium, on the University of Mysore campus.
In his address there, he said spirituality and science go hand in hand in India.
“Despite lacking modern equipment, our ancestors studied the cosmos and the movement of planets very closely,” he said.
Highlighting India’s achievements in space science, he referred to Chandrayaan-3’s landing near the Moon’s South Pole, the Aditya-L1 solar observatory, satellite docking and undocking capabilities and astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla’s visit to the International Space Station.
He said the experience gained from the space mission would contribute to the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.
Modi also highlighted the Atal Tinkering Labs, which had benefited more than one crore students, the One Nation, One Subscription initiative and the Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Scheme.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said CoSMOS would make astronomy accessible to children through immersive learning, with planned live video links to observatories at Hanle in Ladakh and Tamil Nadu.
In Mysuru, Shivakumar urged the Centre to expedite statutory clearances for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project, withdraw the Kasturirangan report recommendations on the Western Ghats and align corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives with Karnataka’s guidelines to upgrade 1,000 government schools into Karnataka Public Schools.
On education, Shivakumar said migration to urban centres had increased from 31 per cent in 2002 to 47 per cent in 2026 and could reach 70 per cent over the next two decades.
“We want CSR guidelines for primary education. We want students in every village to have access to the same quality of education available in towns and urban areas,” he said, seeking directions to channel CSR funds towards government schools and healthcare.
(PTI News)
