Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: During the two-day visit by PM Narendra Modi to Assam starting Friday, he will either launch and inaugurate projects worth Rs 18,000 crore.
PM Modi is scheduled to land at Tezpur airport in the evening tomorrow, and he will then proceed to Kaziranga National Park, where he will spend the night. The next day, after visiting the Park in the morning, he will head for Arunachal Pradesh, where he is scheduled to participate in two programmes, after which he will arrive in Jorhat. While in Jorhat, PM Modi will inaugurate the 125-foot-tall statue of Lachit Barphukan and then address a public rally at Meleng Meteli field nearby, from where he will virtually inaugurate several projects and lay the foundation stones for many others.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma briefed the media on the programmes that the PM is slated to attend, saying, "PM Modi will inaugurate the Tinsukia Medical College and lay the foundation stone for the Sivasagar Medical College, which are worth a total of Rs 800 crore. He will also inaugurate the Barauni-Guwahati refinery stretch of the natural gas pipeline, the cost of which is Rs 3,992 crore. Two pumping stations at Bongaigaon and Guwahati refineries will also be inaugurated. He will also launch an Oil India pumping station worth Rs 572 crore. The Railway double tracking projects-from Dhupdhara to Chhaygaon and New Bongaigaon to Sorbhog, with a total cost of Rs 1328 crore-will also be inaugurated by the PM. A project related to child healthcare at the B Barooah Cancer Institute worth Rs 300 crore will also be inaugurated. Apart from this, an 8.55 lakh house under the PM Awas Yojana will also be inaugurated by the Hon'ble PM."
He also said that the PM will lay the foundation stones for two expansion projects at Digboi and Guwahati refineries. The refining capacity of Digboi refinery will be increased from the present 0.65 MMT to 1 MMT at a projected cost of Rs 768 crore. The present refining capacity of the Guwahati Refinery will also be boosted from the present 1 MMT to 1.20 MMT, with a cost of Rs 510 crore. The foundation stone for a terminal expansion project of ONGC at Betkuchi, costing Rs 277 crore, will also be laid.
The CM also said, "The last ten years have been a golden period for Assam. Numerous projects entailing huge investments were granted by the Central government without the state government even requesting them. PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the semiconductor plant worth Rs 27,000 crore at Jagiroad shortly. Earlier, agitations were held against the export of crude oil from Assam. Now, this has been a complete turnaround, as crude oil will be pumped from outside the state to Assam for refining and extraction of different petroleum products."
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