On the first day of his two-day visit to Gujarat on May 26 and 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects of the state government worth Rs 24,865 crore.
The PM will inaugurate the 9,000 HP Locomotive Rolling Stock Workshop built by the Ministry of Railways at a cost of Rs 21.405 crore in Dahod. Besides, he will inaugurate the doubling work of Anand-Godhra, Mehsana-Palanpur, and Rajkot-Hadmatiya rail lines as well as the electrification of the 107-kilometre Sabarmati-Botad railway line besides the gauge conversion of Kalol-Kadi-Katosan rail line, amounting to a total of Rs 2,287 crore.
A government release on Friday said, “The railway production unit has been built in Dahod with the ‘Make in India’ approach… The locomotive engine will have ‘Manufacturing by Dahod’ written on it. The railway production unit built in Dahod will provide employment to 10,000 people and will boost the local economy. The locomotive engine built in Dahod will be able to carry 4,600 tonnes of cargo. A target has been set to manufacture around 1,200 engines in the next 10 years…”
Among the development projects that PM Modi will inaugurate include several group water supply schemes worth Rs 181 crore for Mahisagar and Dahod districts to receive potable and clean drinking water, benefiting a population of 4.62 lakh people of 193 villages and Mahisagar city.
PM Modi will also inaugurate development works worth Rs 233 crore for public amenities and public welfare, including the Municipal Building and Tribal Museum in Dahod under the Dahod Smart City project. In addition, he will inaugurate works worth Rs 53 crore for police housing. In Vadodara district, the PM will lay the foundation stone for the four-lane conversion of Savli-Timba road, widening of Kayavarohan-Sadhali road, Jarod-Samlaya road and a new bridge on Padmala-Ranoli road worth a total of Rs 581 crore.
Apart from this, he will lay the foundation stone of works worth Rs 26 crore under Amrut 2.0 and Swarnim Jayanti Mukhyamantri Urban Development Scheme in Balasinor of Mahisagar district, and will lay the foundation stone of the Bharej bridge to be constructed at a cost of Rs 26 crore in Chhota Udepur district besides the railway overbridge to be constructed at LC 65 at a cost of Rs 73 crore. Before heading to Dahod, PM Modi will visit Vadodara on Monday morning, where, after a kilometre-long road show near the airport, he will be felicitated for Operation Sindoor. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), district administration and the local BJP brass are readying the area for the felicitation.
Senior BJP leaders said that grand preparations had been planned along the road show of the PM in Vadodara, with cultural tableaux as well as props on the theme of Operation Sindoor. “There will be cut-outs of the PM, depicting the firm decisions taken after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack… It is his first visit in Gujarat after Operation Sindoor and that too, in Vadodara, so it ought to be grand. There will be special dedication to the Armed Forces and our Defence systems that ensured the safety and sovereignty of the country during the attacks by Pakistan,” said a party leader.
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District Collector Anil Dhameliya and Municipal Commissioner Arun Babu have formed various teams to oversee the preparations. Officials said that the PM will exit the Vadodara airport complex after arriving from Delhi and hold a road show to reach the Air Force base in Darjipura before flying to Dahod.
