Vadodara, May 26 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to the gathering during a roadshow, in Vadodara on Monday.
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Encouraging people to buy “Made-in-India” products, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while visiting Dahod district in Gujarat on Monday asked if one should stop using foreign-made goods in one’s homes.
“My brothers and sisters in Dahod, please tell me, should we not stop using foreign goods in our homes, when the products being manufactured in India have made a mark globally?,” Modi asked while speaking in both Gujarati and Hindi during an event held to launch India’s first 9,000 horsepower (HP) locomotive engine, among other projects worth ₹24,000 crore.
“Please answer me loudly if we should stop (using foreign goods) or not. Wave the tricolour and tell me if we should do so or not,” Modi added. The audience present at this predominantly tribal district of Dahod responded to the PM by waving the tricolour held in their hands. “Why shouldn’t we use the goods made in our own country? When Ganesh Chaturthi comes, we buy Ganesh idols with small eyes (indicative of Made in China products). It is not our Ganapati, but a foreign one. When Holi and Diwali comes, we purchase firecrackers and water-guns (used during Holi) that are made outside (of the country). Should we not buy goods that are made in India? Should we not act in a way to contribute to the earnings of Indians?,” he further told the audience.
Pointing out how India has continued to export metrorail coaches, passenger coaches and other items to various countries across the world, PM Modi said, “Having made a number of items connected with railways, India is becoming a big exporter. The coaches made in metro rail systems in Australia have been manufactured in our Gujarat. If you go to England, Saudi Arabia or France, the coaches of modern systems plying in these countries are manufactured in India. Mexico, Spain, Germany and Italy have also been supplied with small and big equipment related to railways. Our passenger coaches are being used in Mozambique, Sri Lanka and other countries,” PM Modi said adding that the “Made-in-India” engine being built at Dahod will also be exported.
PM Modi said that the locomotive manufacturing unit at Dahod will help build a local ecosystem of MSME units that will engage in manufacturing locomotive’s spare parts and will provide jobs to the local population.“ A day will come in the future, when one locomotive will be built in just two days (at the Dahod unit)…I can foresee the time when the youth in Gujarat will manufacture from cycles, motorcycles, railway engines and aircraft on this land. A high-tech engineering manufacturing corridor stretching from Vadodara to Dahod is underway.” he remarked.
The Prime Minister in his speech also said that 100 percent electrification of the railway network in Gujarat has been completed. Speaking about “Operation Sindoor” launched by the Indian Army against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan, PM Modi said, “Operation Sindoor is not just a military operation, it is an expression of our Indian tradition and emotions. Those engaging in terrorist activities will not have dreamt how difficult it is to face Modi.”
Earlier at the event in Dahod, Union minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the India’s first 9000 horse power (HP) locomotive engine manufactured in Dahod in Gujarat has regenerative braking capability. “This Made in Dahod engine will be exported..There is no noise or vibration (in this engine). The pilot cabin has air conditioning and has a toilet. The interesting thing is that when the engine brakes, it becomes a generator and produces power,” he said.
“The engine made in Dahod is of high quality and low cost and so we will be able to export it across the world. The engine has been christened D-9 which means Dahod-9000,” the railway minister said adding that it was PM Modi who had decided to set up the electric locomotive manufacturing unit at Dahod in 2022. During the occasion a Vande Bharat train from Ahmedabad to Somnath was flagged off. “Till now 5 crore people have travelled in Vande Bharat trains,” Vaishaw added.
Published on May 26, 2025