Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the 108-feet bronze statue in Bengaluru of the city's founder Nadaprabhu Kempegowda and inaugurated Terminal 2 of the International Airport, built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore.
Modi, who will attend a public function and address a mass gathering later in the day, flagged off south India's first 'Vande Bharat Express' between Mysuru and Chennai via Bengaluru.
After arriving in the city in the morning, Modi paid floral tributes to the statues of saint poet Kanaka Dasa (on account of Kanaka Jayanti, his birth anniversary) and Maharshi Valmiki at the Vidhana Soudha premises here.
He will then leave for Kranthiveera Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) Railway Station here, where he will flag off the Mysuru-Chennai Vande Bharat Express. At the same venue, Modi will also flag off the 'Bharat Gaurav Kashi Yatra' train.
Karnataka is the first state to take up this train under the Bharat Gaurav scheme in which the Government of Karnataka and Ministry of Railways are working together to send pilgrims from the state to Kashi.
Later, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Terminal 2 of Kempegowda International Airport on the outskirts of Bengaluru, built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore. The terminal is expected to double the passenger handling capacity of the airport to 5-6 crore passengers per annum, from the current capacity of about 2.5 crore.
Modi will then unveil the 108-feet statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, which is the "first and tallest bronze statue of a founder of a city", as per 'World Book of Records'.
(With PTI Inputs)
