Bengaluru,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the double engine government (BJP government in the Centre and the state) is contributing to Karnataka's progress.

Addressing a huge gathering after unveiling the 108 feet tall statue of Nadaprabhu Kempe Gowda at the Bengaluru International airport, he said Karnataka is reaping the benefits of the beliefs and aspirations that the entire world has shown towards India.

In the last three years, when the world was struggling with the Covid pandemic, more than Rs 4 lakh crore investments were made in Karnataka.

The state tops the country in terms of the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Prime Minister Modi said.

"The FDI is not only limited to the IT sector. From biotech to defence manufacturing, all sectors attracted investments. In the aircraft and spacecraft sectors, the share of Karnataka is 25 per cent. In terms of defence aircraft, helicopters, 70 per cent of them are built in Karnataka. All this is happening as the state is moving ahead with the strength of a double engine government," he claimed.

"The previous governments considered speed as a luxury, and scale as a risk, but our government has changed this trend. We consider speed as the aspiration and scale as the power of India," he claimed.

"Today, India is identified with startups and most of them are from Bengaluru. Startup is about a passion, an urge to create something new, it is about trust which is shaping the country," he said.

"Bengaluru is a representation of the startup spirit of India, and it is this spirit that makes the country stand out from the rest of the world," the Prime Minister said.

More than 400 Vande Bharat Trains and Vista Dome Coaches are becoming the new identity of India Railways, he said.