Later in Goa, the prime minister will address the valedictory function of the World Ayurveda Congress and also inaugurate three national Ayush institutes. The PMO said Samruddhi Mahamarg or the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway project is a major step towards realising Modi's vision of improved connectivity and infrastructure across the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Maharashtra and Goa on December 11. He will flag off the Vande Bharat Express in Nagpur, launch phase-I of the Nagpur Metro and inaugurate the Mopa international airport in Goa. In Maharashtra, Modi will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate projects worth Rs 75,000 crores, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
It said Modi will also lay the foundation stone of Nagpur Metro Phase-II, inaugurate the first phase of 'Samruddhi Mahamarg', connecting Nagpur and Shirdi, and dedicate to the nation an AIIMS in the city. At a public function in Vidarbha city, the prime minister will launch and inaugurate railway projects worth more than Rs 1,500 crores, the PMO said.
There he will also lay the foundation stone of the National Institute of One Health (NIO) and the Nag river pollution abatement project, besides inaugurating the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) and the Centre for Research, Management and Control of Hemoglobinopathies, it said.
Later in Goa, the prime minister will address the valedictory function of the World Ayurveda Congress and also inaugurate three national Ayush institutes. The PMO said Samruddhi Mahamarg or the Nagpur-Mumbai Super Communication Expressway project is a major step towards realising Modi's vision of improved connectivity and infrastructure across the country.
The 701-kilometre expressway, being built at a cost of about Rs 55,000 crore, is one of India's longest expressways. It passes through Maharashtra's 10 districts and the prominent urban regions of Amravati, Aurangabad and Nashik. The expressway will also help improve connectivity of adjoining 14 other districts, thus helping in development of about 24 districts of the state, including the regions of Vidarbha, Marathwada and north Maharashtra, the PMO said.
A part of integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects under PM Gati Shakti, the expressway will connect to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and tourist locations like Ajanta Ellora caves, Shirdi, Verul and Lonar among others, it added. "Samruddhi Mahamarg will be a game-changer in providing a major boost to economic development of Maharashtra," the PMO said.
Phase-I of the Nagpur Metro has been developed at a cost of more than Rs 8,650 crore, while its phase-II will cost over Rs 6,700 crore, it said. The PMO noted Modi had laid the foundation stone of the AIIMS in Nagpur in July 2017 and it is being developed at a cost of more than Rs 1,575 crore.
With Modi stressing on building world-class infrastructure and transport facilities across the country, the PMO said the Mopa international airport in the tourist hub of Goa is a step in that direction, and added that the prime minister had launched the project in November 2016. It cost around Rs 2,870 crores and initially, the phase I of the airport will cater to around 4.4 million passengers per annum (MPPA), which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 MPPA, it added.
(With PTI inputs)