We will make Mumbai a truly global city: PM

Hailing Mumbai as a symbol of new India's hope, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday that terrorists wanted to destroy the dream of transforming Mumbai into a truly global city but they will never succeed.

"We will build Mumbai into a truly global city. It is at that dream that the terrorists struck (but) they will never succeed but Mumbai will," Singh said at a meeting with the industrialists and representatives of the entertainment industry in Mumbai.

"Mumbai symbolises the hopes of new India and the country will spare no efforts to tackle terrorism and will ensure that such strikes are not repeated," he said.

"I salute the people of Maharashtra for their enterprise and creativity," he said.

Noting that those living in Mumbai are concerned about the quality of urban life, Singh said, "Our government has launched the Urban Renewable Mission with a special focus on improving the quality of life of those who live in slums."

The government, he said, has invested in creating world-class public transport in Mumbai. "We want to build world-class infrastructure to make Mumbai a truly world-class city."

Referring to the initiatives taken in the education sector, Singh said, "I am personally a beneficiary of a scholarship funded education. I come from a very poor family. My family could not have afforded the education I was able to secure. My education has made me what I am today."

The United Progressive Alliance government, he added, introduced the largest number of scholarship schemes with special focus on deprived sections and minorities, especially Muslims.

Singh also promised to provide greater thrust to the education in the next five years, "if (Congress party is) voted back to power" in the up-coming general elections.