Today, round six of seven in the Indian parliamentary elections ended. There is now one election day left before the results are expected to be presented on the fourth of June. Incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is widely tipped to win and has created what is being described as record economic growth. TV4 Nyheternas foreign reporter Johan Fredriksson has visited one of 100 so-called “smart cities” that are currently emerging in the country.
Narendra Modi’s leadership has been characterized by record economic growth, mainly through huge investments in infrastructure. Ports, airports and hydroelectric dams have been built at breakneck speed, which has benefited many Indians but also caused protests where villagers and the environment come under pressure.
1,500 new billion kroner are to be added to these investments and 100 new so-called “smart cities” are currently emerging, including in Jhajjar in Haryana. Here, pastures are to be transformed into a new airport – a total of 75 have been built in the last 10 years. Another such project is underway in Ankola in Karnataka.
Investments in infrastructure go a long way. In the state of Uttarakhand, the inhabitants of the mountain villages in the lower Himalayas are forced to move when a new dam is to be built. The site will be one of India’s nearly 200 hydropower facilities and exemplifies the dilemmas that the growing economic superpower India is facing, reports Johan Fredriksson, foreign reporter TV4 Nyheterna
On Friday, April 19, the elections began in India. The election in India is the largest in history and 970 million people will vote.