Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated & laid the foundation stone of development works worth over Rs 34,200 crore in Bhavnagar, Gujarat today. Addressing the ‘Samudra se Samriddhi’ event, the Prime Minister welcomed all the dignitaries and the people. Acknowledging the birthday wishes sent to him on 17th September, stating that the affection received from the people is a great source of strength, the Prime Minister highlighted that the nation is observing Seva Pakhwada from Vishwakarma Jayanti to Gandhi Jayanti, i.e., from 17th September to 2nd October. He remarked that several service-oriented activities have taken place in Gujarat over the past 2–3 days. The Prime Minister noted that blood donation camps have been organised at hundreds of locations, with one lakh individuals having donated blood so far. He added that cleanliness drives have been conducted across numerous cities, with lakhs of citizens actively participating. Shri Modi informed that over 30,000 health camps have been set up across the state, providing medical check-ups and treatment to the public and women in particular. He extended his appreciation and gratitude to everyone involved in service activities across the country.
Prime Minister began by paying tribute to Krishnakumarsinh Ji, recalling his noble legacy and remarked that Krishnakumarsinh Ji made a significant contribution to India’s unity by aligning with the mission of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He highlighted that inspired by such great patriots, the nation continues to strengthen the spirit of unity. The Prime Minister emphasized that the resolve of Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat is being reinforced through these collective efforts.
Mentioning that he arrived in Bhavnagar at a time when the auspicious festival of Navratri is about to begin, Shri Modi stated that due to the reduction in GST, markets will witness increased vibrancy and festive enthusiasm. In this celebratory atmosphere, the Prime Minister highlighted that the nation is celebrating a grand festival of Samudra se Samriddhi. He emphasized that 21st-century India views the ocean as a major avenue of opportunity. Shri Modi informed that projects worth thousands of crores have just been inaugurated and foundation stones laid to accelerate port-led development. He added that to promote cruise tourism, the International Cruise Terminal in Mumbai has also been inaugurated today. The Prime Minister noted that development projects linked to Bhavnagar and Gujarat have also commenced and extended his heartfelt wishes to all citizens and the people of Gujarat.
“India is moving forward with the spirit of global brotherhood and India has no major enemy in the world today, but in true terms, India’s biggest adversary is dependence on other nations”, stated the Prime Minister emphasizing that this dependency must be collectively defeated. He reiterated that greater foreign dependence leads to greater national failure. For global peace, stability, and prosperity, the world’s most populous country must become self-reliant. He cautioned that reliance on others compromises national self-respect. Shri Modi asserted that the future of 140 crore Indians cannot be left to external forces, nor can the resolve for national development be based on foreign dependency. He stressed that the future of coming generations must not be put at risk. He declared that the solution to a hundred problems is one—building an Atmanirbhar Bharat. To achieve this, India must confront challenges, reduce external dependence, and demonstrate true self-reliance.
Underscoring that India has never lacked capability, Shri Modi remarked that after independence, the then ruling party consistently ignored the country’s inherent strengths. As a result, even after six to seven decades of freedom, India could not achieve the success it truly deserved. The Prime Minister identified two major reasons for this: prolonged entanglement in the license-quota regime and isolation from global markets. He added that when the era of globalization arrived, the then ruling governments focused solely on imports, which led to scams worth thousands of crores. Shri Modi emphasized that these policies caused significant harm to India’s youth and prevented the nation’s true potential from emerging.
Citing India’s shipping sector as a major example of the damage caused by flawed policies, Shri Modi remarked that India was historically a leading maritime power and one of the world’s largest shipbuilding hubs. Ships built in India’s coastal states once powered domestic and global trade. Even fifty years ago, India used domestically built ships, with over 40 percent of import-export conducted through them. The Prime Minister criticized the current opposition party stating that the shipping sector later fell victim to their misguided policies and instead of strengthening domestic shipbuilding, they preferred paying freight to foreign vessels. This led to the collapse of India’s shipbuilding ecosystem and forced dependence on foreign ships. As a result, the share of Indian ships in trade dropped from 40 percent to just 5 percent. The Prime Minister emphasized that today, 95 percent of India’s trade relies on foreign ships—a dependency that has caused significant loss to the nation.