Narendra Modi in Odisha: PM inaugurates Balangir-Bichhupali railway line on his third visit to state in a month

Balangir: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Balangir-Bichhupali railway line in Odisha on Tuesday. This is Modi’s third visit to Odisha, ruled by the regional BJD party, in the past month.

The prime minister laid the foundation stone for a permanent building at Kendriya Vidyalaya at Sonepur and inaugurated the new Passport Seva Kendras at Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Puri, Phulbani, Bargarh and Balangir.

Addressing the gathering during the inaugural event, Modi said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is committed towards the development of Odisha.

“The BJP government is committed towards the development of Odisha. In the past one month, I have visited the state thrice. When a region has good connectivity, it positively impacts all sectors, especially the tourism sector. Today, new passport service centres have started in Kendrapada, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Bargarh, Kandhamal, and Balangir. Now the people here do not need to go too far for a passport,” he said.

Apart from inaugurating the railway line, the prime minister launched six ministry of railways projects, including the launch of 813 kilometre of electrified lines from Jharsuguda to Vizianagaram and from Sambalpur to Angul. Prime minister Modi also dedicated a multi-modal logistics park (MMLP) at Jharsuguda, which will facilitate both import and export, and domestic cargo, including private freight traffic (PFT).

On his first visit to the state’s Khurdha region in December, the prime minister launched Rs 14,523 crore worth of projects in the state and during his second visit on 5 January, he inaugurated projects worth Rs 4,733 crores, taking the total amount of projects allotted by the Centre to Odisha to Rs 20,801 crores in the past month.

During Tuesday’s visit, projects worth Rs 1,545 crore were inaugurated by the prime minister.