Modi to visit Bihar, West Bengal today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bihar and West Bengal on Friday to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects worth over Rs 12,200 crore.

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During this visit, he will also flag off four new Amrit Bharat Express trains, connecting Bihar and Bengal with Delhi and Lucknow.

The Prime Minister’s visit to Bihar comes at a time when the state is embroiled in a heated political environment over the revision of electoral rolls. The visit is also being seen as part of the Centre’s push for regional infrastructure and welfare development in the poll-bound state.

At Motihari in Bihar, the Prime Minister will unveil Rs 7,200-crore projects for railways, roads, IT, fisheries and rural development.

Major railway projects include doubling of key railway lines like the Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj and Samastipur-Rambhadrapur; construction of maintenance facilities for Vande Bharat train; and upgrade for traction systems. To boost road infrastructure, he will inaugurate the Parariya-Mohania section of NH-319 and lay foundation stone for the Ara bypass.

Modi will also inaugurate new Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) facilities in Patna and Darbhanga to promote IT start-ups and exports.

Under PM Matsya Sampada Yojana, fisheries development projects like hatcheries and aquaculture units will be launched to boost rural employment.

He will further disburse Rs 400 crore to over 61,000 self-help groups. Housing and rural development beneficiaries under PMAY-Gramin and DAY-NRLM schemes will also receive assistance.

Later, in Durgapur in West Bengal, Modi will unveil Rs 5,000-crore projects, spanning power sector, oil and gas, roads and railways. These would include the BPCL City Gas Distribution project for Bankura and Purulia and the Durgapur-Kolkata section of the Urja Ganga pipeline.

He will also inaugurate flue gas desulphurization units at local thermal power stations and double the Purulia–Kotshila rail line to improve freight logistics. Besides, Modi will inaugurate two road overbridges in Paschim Bardhaman under the ‘Setu Bharatam’.