Industrial corridors, houses for all by 2022: BJP manifesto

New Delhi, April 7 (IANS) Declaring that India should no longer be limited by its infrastructure, the BJP in its election manifesto Monday promised faster work on the country's freight and industrial corridors and vowed to provide each family a house by the 75th year of the nation's independence.

"India should no longer be limited by its infrastructure. For this purpose, we have to devote ourselves for a decade," said the manifesto, the release of which had been delayed reportedly owing to differences over its formulation.

"Work on the freight corridors and attendant industrial corridors will be expedited. This will result in faster movement of people and goods. Every village will be connected through all-weather roads. We shall modernize existing and operational airports, and build new ones especially connecting smaller towns and all tourism circuits," the manifesto stated.

"We will roll out a massive low-cost housing programme to ensure that by the time the nation completes 75 years of its independence (in 2022), every family will have a pucca (brick-and-mortar) house of its own," the BJP said.

There is special emphasis on improving connectivity and massive infrastructure development of the Northeast region, with electors in parts of it voting Monday in ignorance of the manifesto because of an election commission-mandated media blackout.

Underlining the need to focus on generation and distribution of power as a national security issue, the manifesto said the overarching goal of energy security is to ensure affordable energy for various consumer segments.

"Steps will be taken to avoid over-dependence on any one fuel and ensure supplier diversity, to avoid reliance on one supplier, country and developing indigenous capacities to meet the emerging needs," the manifesto said.