Coal scam is blackening country's face: Narendra Modi

Gandhinagar: Attacking the Centre on the coal allocation controversy, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the scam was "blackening the country's face".

"On the lines of Gujarat, Centre had decided to distribute soil health cards to farmers. I don't know when they are going to do this. They are stuck in coal (scam)," Modi said, addressing a national convention on agri-business in Gandhinagar.

"The scam is blackening the country's face, as Delhi has got mired in coal."

Narendra Modi also claimed that industrial and agricultural development were taking place simultaneously only in Gujarat.

The Chief Minister also claimed that Gujarat was the only state where industrial and agricultural development were taking place simultaneously. "National average of agriculture growth is 2-3 per cent, but Gujarat has grown at 10 per cent in the last decade," Modi said.

In the last ten years, seven lakh hectares of land was brought under micro-irrigation in the state, whereas only a thousand hectares had been brought under micro-irrigation in the previous 40 years, he said.

Farmers from several states attended the convention. Modi announced that Gujarat would organise 'international agri fair' every three years, on the lines of 'Agritech' in Israel, where latest technology and global trends would be showcased.

Modi also announced that an agricultural institute would be set up in Gujarat in collaboration with Israel. "The degree of an Israeli university would be awarded to the students," he said.

Speaking on this occasion, Israel Counsel General Orna Sagi said her country was celebrating 20 years of bilateral trade relations with India.

"In 1992, the bilateral trade with India was $180 million, and today it is $5 billion. Agriculture has been an instrumental part of this growth," Sagi said.

Sagi also announced that Israel would establish three Centres of Excellence in Gujarat, for vegetables, mango and post-harvest processing of dates and banana.

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