Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the erstwhile Congress government of ignoring the importance of electricity, saying increasing power production is necessary for any country to develop rapidly in the 21st century.

"Before 2014, there were 2.5 crore households in India that did not have electricity connection. Even after 70 years of Independence, electricity poles had not even been installed in 18,000 villages across the country.

"The Congress government did not pay any attention to the importance of electricity," Modi said while addressing a public meeting in this Rajasthan district on Thursday, where he laid foundation for a nuclear power project to be built at a cost of Rs 42,000 crore.

"Power cuts were frequent during Congress rule. It was considered a big deal if the

See Full Page