Bhildi, October 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said farmers in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district had transformed the region into a major potato-producing centre, remarking that they no longer needed anyone to promise to turn potatoes into gold because their work was already achieving that feat.
Highlighting the region’s agricultural growth, Modi said the availability of Narmada water and the adoption of modern irrigation techniques, including drip irrigation, had transformed Banaskantha’s agricultural landscape.
“Banaskantha’s potatoes are now famous across the world. Nobody needs to come here and say they will make gold out of potatoes. The people here can say that they are already doing it,” he said while addressing a gathering in Bhildi.
The controversial “potato in, gold out” remark was made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during a speech in Gujarat’s Patan district on November 12, 2017.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the expansion of the potato-processing plant at Sanadar, which manufactures French fries. He said the expansion would increase the plant’s capacity and enable it to procure more potatoes from farmers.
The facility is expected to create an additional market for potato growers by linking agricultural production with food processing. The expansion was among the projects inaugurated during Modi’s visit to Banaskantha.
Modi also highlighted the role of the Banas Dairy cooperative, saying its work was extending beyond Gujarat and contributing to the cooperative movement in other parts of the country, including Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency. He said the dairy’s experience and services had also benefited people in his constituency.
The Prime Minister referred to the government’s horticulture cluster development programme, under which 12 clusters had been approved for crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, grapes, bananas, onions, oranges, pomegranates and cocoa.
The programme aims to help farmers establish new orchards and rejuvenate existing ones, with subsidies being provided for the work.
Two of the clusters are located in North Gujarat and are expected to benefit potato farmers in Banaskantha and Sabarkantha. The projects form part of a broader effort to expand horticulture and strengthen the agricultural value chain by connecting cultivation with processing facilities and markets.
Modi also urged farmers to conserve water and electricity, recalling that he had faced protests during his early years as Gujarat Chief Minister when he asked farmers to use these resources carefully.
He noted that the availability of Narmada water and micro-irrigation had helped overcome earlier constraints and transformed the region’s agricultural prospects.
The Prime Minister’s visit also included the inauguration of a new automated storage and retrieval system for ultra-high-temperature milk products at Banas Dairy’s Palanpur facility. He also laid the foundation stones for two Bio-CNG plants that will process cattle dung.
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