Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 4,000 crore and a dedicated Doordarshan channel named ‘DD Arun Prabha’ in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday.

Addressing a massive gathering of supporters on the occasion, the PM said that an additional Rs 13,000 crore worth of projects for the northeastern state are in the pipeline.

Making a pitch for his government ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the PM said that while the previous governments neglected the state for decades, the NDA government is trying to help in the development of North East.

“New India can only be built if North East can be developed well,” the PM said while underlining the major projects undertaken by his government.

“Our govt allocated Rs 44,000 crore fund to Arunachal Pradesh which is double the amount provided by the previous govt,” he said.

Further slamming the previous government, the PM said, “Tezu airport was built over 50 years ago but no government had the vision to connect the people of this state with other parts of the country. We expanded the airport by spending around Rs 125 crore.”

Highlighting the work done under the ambitious power projects of the Centre, including electrification of all the villages in the country, the PM said, “I would like to congratulate the state and the CM that every household here now has electricity connection under ‘Saubhagya’ scheme. What Arunachal Pradesh achieved today will soon be achieved by the entire nation.”

Twelve hydro electric projects of 110 MW were inaugurated today, which, the PM said, will not only help Arunachal Pradesh but also adjoining states.

Emphasising on the significance of Arunachal Pradesh’s development for the overall growth of the country, the PM said that around 1000 villages have been connected through roads in the last two years alone and work on Trans Arunachal highway is also under progress.

“You will soon have a tunnel in Sela, which will reduce the travel time to Tawang by over an hour. This road will be accessible round the year, in all weather conditions,” he said.

The Sela tunnel will reduce travel time to the India-China border town of Tawang by over an hour.

“In an effort to connect all the capitals of North East states, Itanagar has also been connected with the Railways,” the PM added.

PM Modi is on a two-day tour of the Northeast with visits scheduled for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

The PM is set to inaugurate two key energy projects for Assam-Numaligarh Refinery’s bio-diesel plant and the Barauni-Guwahati gas pipeline before heading to Tripura for a scheduled rally at around 3.30 pm.