Jaunpur/Mirzapur (UP), Mar 1 (PTI) There should not only be smart cities but also smart villages, Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

Gadkari made the remark after he laid the foundation stone of 19 projects worth Rs 10,000 crore at a function organised on the campus of BRP Inter College in Jaunpur district.

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"Farmers should not only be food providers but also energy providers. Today my car runs on ethanol which is produced by farmers. Also there should be not only smart cities but also smart villages," he said.

The minister said farmers should be debt-free and get fair prices for their crops.

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He said that when Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, the total length of national highways in Uttar Pradesh was 7,343 km. "In 2024 this length will become 13,000 km."

In Mirzapur, Gadkari laid foundation stones of a 15 km-long bypass, a bridge crossing Ganga, and approach road to be built at a combined cost of Rs 1,708.62 crore.

Before he embarked on his schedule, the minister in the morning prayed at Maa Vindhyavasini temple in Mirzapur.

He then addressed a gathering on the campus of Polytechnic College.

"Connectivity is the basis of development and it has a very important contribution in the development of any country," he said there.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and local MP Anupriya Patel also addressed the public meeting.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)