Narendra Modi to launch slew of infrastructure projects during visit to West Bengal, Assam today

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal and Assam on Sunday for inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of several development projects and will also address public meetings on these occasions in the two poll-bound states. His office HAD said on Friday that Modi will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch ‘‘Asom Mala’’, a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Assam. He will later dedicate to the nation and also lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects at Haldia in West Bengal. In Bengal, Modi will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL that has been constructed at an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per annum. “It will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. He will also dedicate to the nation the 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project. It marks an important milestone towards achieving ‘‘one nation, one gas grid’’ project of the government, the PMO said. Constructed at an investment of about Rs 2,400 crore, the pipeline will help the revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertilizer plant and in supplying gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal). It will cater to the gas demand of industrial, commercial and automobile sectors, and the city gas distribution across all major towns in the state. Modi will lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation as well. This unit will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonnes per annum, and once commissioned, is expected to result in a saving of about $ 185 million in foreign exchange. Another project to be inaugurated by the prime minister is a four-lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak in Haldia on NH 41. It has been built at the cost of Rs 190 crore, the PMO said. The flyover will result in uninterrupted movement of traffic from Kolaghat to Haldia Dock Complex and other surrounding areas, resulting in substantial saving in travel time and operating cost of heavy vehicles plying in and out of the port. “These projects are in line with Prime Minister’’s vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of eastern India,” it said. In Assam, Modi will launch ‘‘Asom Mala’’, which is aimed at helping improve the state highways and major district roads network in the state. The programme is unique for its emphasis on effective maintenance through continuous field data collection and its linkage with the road asset management system, the PMO noted. ‘‘Asom Mala’’ will provide quality inter-linkage roads between the national highways and the rural roads network as well as facilitate seamless multi-modal transportation. It will interconnect economic growth centres with transportation corridors and improve inter-state connectivity, it said. The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone of two medical colleges and hospitals, which are being set up in Biswanath and Charaideo at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,100 crore. Each hospital will have a capacity of 500 beds and 100 MBBS seats. “The increase in the number of medical colleges and hospitals will not only mitigate the shortage of doctors in the state but also make Assam a hub for tertiary care and medical education for the entire northeastern region,” the PMO said.