New Delhi, Mar 4 :Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that Infrastructure development is the driving force of the country’s economy, and pointed out that India will achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047 by following this very path.

He said that this year’s budget will give new growth energy to the infrastructure sector to achieve the target”.

” Infrastructure development has always been an important pillar in the process of a country’s development” The Prime Minister said while addressing post-Budget Webinar on “Infrastructure and Investment – Improving Logistics Efficiency with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan” here.

The Prime Minister said under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, the government is aiming to invest 110 lakh crore rupees in the coming years.

He added that this is the time for new responsibilities, new possibilities and bold decisions for each stakeholder.

Over construction of Roads, he said that, ” today’s average annual construction of National Highways has been almost 2 times as compared to before 2014″.

He added that unfortunately, after independence, modern infrastructure was not given much-required emphasis.

Talking about the “Gati Shakti National Master Plan” he said it is going to rejuvenate India’s Infrastructure and Multimodal Logistics and it is a great tool to integrate economic, infrastructure planning and development in the country”.

He said this year’s Budget, 100, critical projects have been prioritized and 75,000 crore rupees have been allocated.

Modi added that “only 600 route km of railway track was electrified per year before 2014 which is now reaching 4000 km per year”.

He further added that the number of airports and seaport capacity has doubled as well.

Elaborating on the role of the states, the Prime Minister informed about the one-year extension of interest-free loans up to 50 years loans and Budgetary expenditure for this has been increased to the tune of 30 per cent.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the robustness of India’s physical infrastructure is equally important for the strengthening of the country’s social infrastructure.

A strong social infrastructure will lead to more talented and skilled youth who will come forward to serve the nation” he said.