Modi to inaugurate projects worth Rs 18,000 cr in Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati, Mar 7 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore during his two-day tour of Assam starting Friday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Addressing a press meet here on Thursday, Sarma said Modi will, for the first time, visit UNESCO heritage site Kaziranga National Park and undertake a safari.

"The PM will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of a mix of state and central projects worth around Rs 18,000 crore," he said.

On February 4, the prime minister had launched infrastructure projects worth Rs 11,600 crore. He is likely to lay the foundation stone of a Rs 27,000-crore semiconductor plant of the Tata Group on March 13.

Giving details of his tour programme, Sarma said Modi will arrive in Assam on Friday afternoon and will spend the night at the Kohora range of Kaziranga National Park, he added.

"He is scheduled to land at Tezpur airport at 4 pm and reach Kaziranga by a chopper. Around 5.30am on Saturday, he will enter the park and will stay there for around two hours," Sarma said.

The Assam government has kept both jeep and elephant safaris ready for Modi, who will enjoy any of the rides or both, he added.

"This will be the first visit of Modi to the world heritage site. And I believe he must be the first prime minister to stay overnight at Kaziranga, but I have to check the records," Sarma said.

After this, the PM will depart for Arunachal Pradesh, where he will attend two functions before returning to Assam's Jorhat district, he added.

"After landing at Hollongapar helipad, he will inaugurate the 125-foot tall statue of Ahom general Lachit Borphukan. The statue, constructed by Ram Vanji Sutar, has a height of 84 feet. With the pedestal measuring 41 feet, the total height of the statue stands at 125 feet," Sarma said.

In February 2022, then President Ram Nath Kovind had launched the 400th birth anniversary celebrations of Lachit Borphukan and laid the foundation of a 150-foot bronze statue of the legendary commander, to be constructed at his memorial in an area of over 16.5 acres at Hollongapar near Teok.

"The statue is in the first phase and work for the second phase is going on. A gallery with the history of the Ahom dynasty's 600 years rule will be presented, while another gallery will have contemporary Assam history. An auditorium having a capacity to accommodate 500 people will also be constructed. The total project cost will be Rs 214 crore," Sarma said.

Lachit Borphukan was a legendary army commander of the Ahom kingdom (1228-1826). He is known for his leadership in the 1671 'Battle of Saraighat' on Brahmaputra that thwarted a drawn-out attempt by the mighty Mughal forces, led by Raja Ramsingh-I, to take back Assam.

After the statue's inauguration, Modi will go to Meleng in Jorhat district by road to roll out a number of infrastructure development projects, funded by both state and central governments, and address the public.

"He will hand over 5,55,555 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) houses to the beneficiaries, marking a significant milestone as the largest number of houses inaugurated in a single day in the country. He will also inaugurate the Tinsukia Medical College and Hospital and lay the foundation for Sivasagar Medical College and Hospital," Sarma said.

Modi will also inaugurate a child cancer treatment project worth Rs 300 crore at Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) in Guwahati under the PM-DevINE scheme, he added.

The chief minister said other projects that the prime minister will inaugurate are capacity expansions of refineries at Digboi to 1 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) from 0.65 MMTPA (Rs 768 crore) and Guwahati to 1.2 MMTPA from 1 MMTPA (Rs 510 crore).

Modi will also start the expansion work for IOC's Betkuchi terminal (Rs 277 crore), partial inauguration of Barauni-Numaligarh gas pipeline up to Guwahati (Rs 3,992 crore), and dedicate OIL's two pumping stations for supplying crude from Guwahati to Bongaigaon (Rs 572 crore) and from Duliajan to Digboi (Rs 51 crore), he added.

"Besides, the PM will inaugurate two railway projects for doubling of tracks, worth Rs 1,328 crore. The first one is from Dhupdhara to Chhaygaon and the other is from New Bongaigaon to Sarbhog," Sarma said.

After the function, he will leave for West Bengal on Saturday evening, he added.

Asked if the two-day visit will be a kind of Modi's beginning of the election campaign in Assam, Sarma said, "The PM comes to the Northeast frequently. This will be his third visit to Assam this year (2023-24). I don't think it has any relation to the elections. If Lachit Borphukan's statue was ready earlier, he would have come then." PTI