Chennai | The outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US will be more beneficial to India, especially the South, as the agreements inked during the visit will give impetus to India's space exploration besides in making engines for the Tejas (combat) aircraft, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday.

Referring to the agreements reached between the two nations during Modi's visit last week, Sitharaman said "His visit will have (a positive) impact in this part of India too. India signed the Artemis Accord on space exploration to put humans back to the moon by 2025 and it would mean a lot for our Chandrayaan (Indian lunar probe) mission." NASA and ISRO would jointly send Indian astronauts to the international space station in 2024, she said while speaking at the 13th annual convocation at Vels University here.

The US Navy's agreement with Larsen and Toubro for the master ship repair at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu and also the MoU signed between General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bengaluru, for the manufacture of F-414 engines in India for the indigenous Tejas aircraft would immensely benefit the south, she said.

This apart, the mutual recognition understanding signed by the government of India with France, Australia, the UAE and other countries in the pipeline will make the Indian degrees internationally recognised. "Whatever degree you get in India will be recognised internationally. So, the options and possibilities of you getting jobs in those countries based on your degrees are now much higher," Sitharaman said pointing to the graduates.

"Every week a new university is getting established in our country. This tells us the importance the higher education is getting under Modi's rule. Every third day Atal tinkering lab is getting established, every second day a new college is being constructed and every day one new ITI is getting formed and one new IIT is being opened every year. So, higher education is receiving the highest priority in our government," she said.

The nine years of Modi rule ensured the establishment of 1,113 universities, which is 53 per cent more than what it was before 2014. There was a 97 per cent increase in MBBS seats to about 99,763 seats almost reaching the one lakh mark, and an 81 per cent increase in medical colleges.

About 2.83 crore students were imparted skill training and 4.28 lakh appointment letters were handed over to the beneficiaries at the six Rozgar melas held so far. "By early 2024, about ten lakh government jobs will be made available," the Finance Minister said.