New Delhi [India], July 19 : Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Saturday addressed the 'Uttarakhand Investment Festival - 2025', organized on the occasion of realisation of Rs 1 lakh crore worth of investments in Uttarakhand, and inauguration and foundation laying ceremony of various development projects worth Rs 1,271 crore by the state government.
On this occasion, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Ritu Khanduri Bhushan, Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Ajay Tamta, and Yog Guru Baba Ramdev, along with several other dignitaries, were present, Ministry of Home Affairs said.

Addressing the 'Uttarakhand Investment Festival 2025', Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said that every time he visits Uttarakhand, he returns with a renewed sense of energy. The moment one sets foot in Uttarakhand, he is blessed by the deities residing in the Char Dham, the sacred rivers Ganga and Yamuna, and the saints who have kept the flame of spirituality alive in this land. Shah said that Uttarakhand is rightly called the "Dev Bhoomi" (Land of the Gods), because its mountain peaks elevate not just India but the entire world to spiritual heights.

"The saints and sages residing here have, for thousands of years, worked to purify and uphold Indian culture flowing alongside the Ganga. At the same time, the rivers of Uttarakhand provide drinking water and irrigation to nearly half of India, sustaining life. He added that Uttarakhand offers a unique confluence of nature and culture," he further added.
Amit Shah stated that during the 2023 Global Investors Summit held in Uttarakhand, when Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami informed him that the state had received MoUs worth Rs 3.56 lakh crore, he had remarked that signing MoUs is not a major achievement--implementing them on the ground is the real challenge.
Shah said that today, investments worth over Rs 1 lakh crore have become a reality in Uttarakhand. He noted that bringing investments to landlocked and hilly regions is as challenging as climbing a mountain.
However, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, despite all adverse circumstances and by breaking traditional perceptions, has successfully brought in investments exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore in the state. He added that along with these investments, more than 81,000 jobs have been created in Uttarakhand, as per the release.
Additionally, it is estimated that ancillary industries will generate around 2.5 lakh new employment opportunities. Importantly, investment has reached even Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. He emphasised that industrial growth in the state has been pursued while maintaining a balance with environmental sustainability.
He also praised Chief Minister Shri Dhami for outlining a new roadmap for Uttarakhand's development, marked by transparency in policy, speed in implementation, and vision in planning.

Shah said that when the people of Uttarakhand were fighting for a separate Uttarakhand state, the opposition party persecuted the agitators of Uttarakhand. He said that the work of making Uttarakhand a separate state was done by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal ji created three states - Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. These three states were formed and started moving forward in the path of development.
"The icing on the cake was when Prime Minister Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014. Shah said that whatever Atal ji created, PM Modi worked to improve and enhance it. Now there is a double-engine government in Uttarakhand," he added.
Amit Shah said that PM Modi has drawn the blueprint for the development of the entire country. Whether it is the development of infrastructure, bringing clarity in education policy, laying the foundation of industrial development of the country, or taking the economy forward, PM Modi has made many records in every field. He said that the Modi government has increased the length of national highways by 60 per cent in the last 10 years. Work has been done to build 8 lakh kilometer of new roads in rural areas. Convenient 'Vande Bharat' trains have reached 333 districts of the country. 45 thousand kilometers of railway lines have been electrified. 88 new airports have been built and inland waterway cargo has increased 11 times.
"It is the result of these development works that Atal Ji had then brought the economy of this country to the 11th position, which PM Modi has upscaled it from the 11th to the 4th position in 10 years," he added.
Shah said that we are going to become the world's third-largest economy in the year 2027.
He stated that the speed at which development has taken place has led to a doubling of our exports in the service sector, and exports have increased by 76 per cent, resulting in our becoming the fastest-growing economy. Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has busted the myth that if infrastructure is built and industrial development takes place, the welfare of the poor gets affected.

He said that the Modi government ensured food security by giving 5 kg of grains free of cost to 80 crore poor people of the country, by providing free treatment up to five lakh rupees to crores of people, and their expenses incurred on hospitalisation were waived off. For the first time after independence, tap water was provided to 16 crore houses, toilets were built in 12 crore houses, LPG cylinders were delivered to 13 crore houses, electricity was provided to 3 crore houses and four crore people were given houses. Along with this, work was also done to bring 25 crore people above the poverty line.
Union Home Minister said that PM Modi has pledged to make India fully developed by 2047. It is not possible to build a developed India without a developed Uttarakhand. He said that until our small states progress, there cannot be uniform development in the country. Similarly, until the states of the eastern region progress, there cannot be uniform development in the country. Therefore, the Central Government has paid special attention to the development of small states and eastern states.
Amit Shah said that as far as Uttarakhand is concerned, where one Jyotirlinga, two Shakti Peeths, four Dhams, Panch Prayag, Panch Kedar and Sapt Badri are situated, nobody can stop its development. He said that our government devised a policy that brought stability as per the needs of Uttarakhand, provided an environment that rolled out the red carpet for the industry and transparent governance, ensured good law and order, and provided such infrastructure so that tourists keep coming 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
The Union Home Minister said that PM Modi has left no stone unturned in providing facilities to Uttarakhand. He said that some activists were trying to stop the construction of all-weather roads to our four Dhams, but PM Modi, with great determination, filed the lawyers of the Government of India in the Supreme Court and has almost completed the work of providing all-weather roads to the four Dhams.
"The day this work is completed, there will be a rush of tourists in Uttarakhand all year round. Shah said that the construction of a 12-km-long ropeway from Govind Ghat to Hemkund Sahib at a cost of Rs 2700 crore and the Sonprayag-Kedarnath ropeway at a cost of Rs 4000 crore will attract tourists from all over the world in the coming days. Many such roads are being built for the devotees, which will connect Delhi directly," he later said.
Amit Shah said that due to stable policies, an environment for industrial investment was created in Uttarakhand. Tourism policy, start-up policy, film city policy, policy for the service sector and AYUSH policy were made. By making arrangements for getting all approvals through a single window, the Chief Minister has provided a lot of convenience to the industrialists. Shah said that Ayurveda, yoga, natural treatment and organic farming, these four are going to become the basis of development of Uttarakhand in the coming days.
"Ayurveda, yoga, natural treatment and organic farming are a tradition here, there is a suitable environment for them and people also have faith in them. There is a possibility of attracting many times more investment and tourists in these four areas," he added in an official statement.
He said that the international container depots built in the state will promote exports and logistics. Plug and play facilities are being developed in Haridwar, Dehradun,and Udham Singh Nagar. Many schemes have been brought for start-ups and the current government of the state has created an overall environment for development.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that during the opposition party's government from 2004 to 2014, a total of 53 thousand crore rupees were given to Uttarakhand for devolution and grant-in-aid, while PM Modi gave about three and a half times more, i.e. one lakh 86 thousand crore rupees, from 2014 to 2024. Apart from this, 31 thousand crore rupees were given for roads, 40 thousand crore rupees for railways and 100 crore rupees for airports.
He said that overall we have given four and a quarter times more money to Uttarakhand than the opposition party's government. He told the opposition that when the state develops, the practice of disrupting development should be stopped. When the state is progressing, it is the responsibility of every political party to support it.
Amit Shah said that PM Modi has also linked heritage along with development. Our aim is to achieve the fastest development in the world without abandoning Indianness, Indian culture and Indian language.