Emphasizing that good infrastructure enhances the “ease of living”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that it creates new opportunities for progress.

While addressing the public in Mandya, the Prime Minister said, “Everywhere I visited in Karnataka, especially in Mandya, I received a warm welcome.” PM Modi revived a warm welcome in Mandya and people showered him with flowers during the roadshow.

He said that the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway has made youth proud.

“In the last few days, the images of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway have gone viral on social media. Youth are taking immense pride in witnessing the growth of our nation. All these projects will open up the pathways of prosperity and development,” said PM Modi.

The Prime Minister said that the double engine government’s aim is to repay peopel’s love in the form of ‘vikas’ (development) of the state.

“The state-of-the-art road infrastructure projects being launched today in Karnataka will boost connectivity across the state and strengthen economic growth. All these projects will further speed up development and open the way for prosperity. All these projects will pave way for ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’. I congratulate you for all these connectivity projects,” said PM Modi.

The Prime Minister said that in this year’s budget, the government has kept Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure.

“Good infrastructure enhances ‘Ease of Living’. It creates new opportunities for progress. Infrastructure brings employment, investment and means of new business avenues for the state. Now, due to the expressway, this distance can be covered in one and a half hours and this will also lead to economic development in these areas. Thanks to the good connectivity, industry will expand very fast in this area,” he said.

He said that this expressway is passing through Ramnagar and Mandya and will also increase the tourism potential in these areas.

Listing some of the schemes, PM Modi said Karnataka is changing today.

“Karnataka is changing today with the Bharatmala and Sagarmala scheme.

Today with schemes like Bharatmala and Sagarmala, the nation is witnessing development of state-of-the-art infrastructure,” he sadi.

“Whenever there is a discussion about infrastructure, then the names of two great figures remain leading, Krishna Wadiyar and M Vishweshwara Iyer,” said the PM.

He further said that Bengaluru and Mysuru are important cities in Karnataka adding that “One is known for technology while the other is known for tradition. It is quite significant to connect both the cities through technology.”

The 118 Km long project has been developed at a total cost of around Rs 8480 crores.

It will reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from around 3 hours to about 75 minutes. It will act as a catalyst for socio-economic development in the region.