JHARSUGUDA (ODISHA): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched development projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore in key sectors including telecommunications, railways, and higher education, from Jharsuguda in Odisha.
He laid the foundation stones for the expansion of eight IITs across India, which will accommodate 10,000 additional students over the next four years.
Modi also flagged off the Amrit Bharat Express, connecting Berhampur with Udhna in Gujarat’s Surat district.
The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation the doubling of the 34-km Koraput–Baiguda rail line and the 82-km Manabar–Koraput–Gorapur section, constructed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore.
He commissioned more than 97,500 4G telecom towers developed using BSNL’s indigenous technology and inaugurated a 5 km flyover in Sambalpur City, built at a cost of Rs 273 crore.
This marked Modi’s sixth visit to Odisha in the 15 months since the BJP assumed power in the state in June 2024. His visit to Jharsuguda comes after a seven-year gap; he had last been there on September 22, 2018, to inaugurate Odisha’s second commercial airport.
