Freight corridor has been extended up to Ludhiana: PM to industrialists
The freight corridor project has been extended from Delhi up to Ludhiana and the work will commence soon.
This was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while meeting a delegation of 16 industrialists of Ludhiana at Sutton house. The corridor at the moment is from Mumbai-Delhi, though the Punjab industrialists had demanded its extension up to Amritsar. But the PM clarified that the project had been extended up to Ludhiana only. The cost of this project was Rs 1,800 crore about five years back, and the new cost has not yet been worked out.
Talking about the demand of cycling tracks in India, the PM said, "On a trial basis, cycling tracks will be made in Indore and Jalandhar and if they will work well, we will replicate them in other cities of as well."
The industrialists came up with a demand that 100-day employment under the MNREGA can be extended to the industrial sector for entry-level workers, where in addition to the eligible amount under MNREGA, the industry can also contribute. The number of days under MNREGA can cover the training and skill development period for entry- level workers which may be subsequently regularised as normal workers. The industrialists requested to expand and regularise the Ludhiana Airport for increasing connectivity with Delhi and other places.
The industrialists discussed the issue of cross-subsidy with the PM. They said when they were purchasing power under open access from Central pool, the state is charging them an additional cost of about 85 paise per unit.
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