Ashish Pandey 
New Delhi:
River Yamuna that flows through Delhi will be cleaned up and made into a landing strip for air planes, Union minister Nitin Gadkari told NDTV in an exclusive interview today. Asked about the fate of the river in a conversation focussed on the Union Budget 2025 and its priority areas, Mr Gadkari said he has plans for the river.
“This was done in Gujarat as well. Sabarmati river was used as a landing strip,” the road transport minister said, referring to the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the sea plane service to the Statue of Unity near Kevadiya as part of the regional connectivity project in 2020. The Prime Minister had travelled in the maiden flight of the twin-engine plane.
A similar thing will be done for Yamuna also, he said. “You can take off from Delhi and land in Agra within 13 minutes and return the same day”.
Asked about this year’s budget in which there has been no marked increase in the amount earmarked for infrastructure, Mr Gadkari pointed to the big picture.
“The allocation for infrastructure is already high. and lots spent on infra since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014,” he said.
In this context, he said improvement in infrastructure in four specific aspects — water, power, transport communication — is the key to making India a developed nation.
“If these are in shape, trade, business etc will expand. And that, in turn, will increase employment and end poverty, which will pave the way for Viksit Bharat (Developed India),” he added.
Neetu