Ahmedabad, May 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to begin his two-day visit to his home state, Gujarat, on Monday where he will inaugurate several development projects worth Rs 82,000 crore.

This will be his first visit to the state following Operation Sindoor.

Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate two new trains, including a Vande Bharat Express, via video conferencing from Dahod during his visit to Gujarat on Monday, officials said.

According to Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (Information and Publicity), Railway Board, the new services include the Sabarmati-Veraval Vande Bharat Express and the Valsad-Dahod Express.

The Prime Minister will first visit Dahod where he will inaugurate the Loco Manufacturing Shop-Rolling Stock Workshop.

Following the inauguration, he will address the people in Kharod, Dahod and also lay the foundation for railways and other government projects worth Rs 24,000 crore.

The first train, the Sabarmati-Veraval Vande Bharat Express, will connect Sabarmati station to Veraval near the famous Somnath temple. It will operate six days a week, excluding Thursdays.

The train will have eight coaches and is expected to greatly benefit pilgrims and tourists travelling to Somnath, one of Gujarat’s most prominent pilgrimage destinations.

PM Modi will also flag off the Somnath–Ahmedabad Vande Bharat train and inaugurate a railway production unit in Dahod, which has been set up at a cost of more than Rs 21,000 crore under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The second train is the Valsad-Dahod Express, which will run daily between Valsad and Dahod. It will have 17 coaches and cover a distance of 346 km, departing from Valsad at 5:50 a.m.

Train no. 19011 will run from Valsad to Dahod, while train no. 19012 will operate in the reverse direction.

The Valsad-Dahod-Express will halt at 12 stations along the route: Bilimora Junction, Navsari, Surat, Ankleshwar Junction, Bharuch Junction, Miyagam Karjan, Vadodara Junction, Samlaya Junction, Derol, Godhra Junction, Piplod Junction, and Limkheda. It will operate on all days of the week.

The launch of these trains aims to improve regional connectivity and promote both tourism and daily commuting in Gujarat.

According to a statement, PM Modi will inaugurate a locomotive manufacturing plant and flag off an electric locomotive from Dahod on Monday. He will then travel to Bhuj and launch multiple development projects worth more than Rs 53,400 crore. He will address public rallies at both places.

He is also set to inaugurate four drinking water improvement group water supply schemes, built at a cost of Rs 181 crore. These will provide clean drinking water at 100 LPCD (Litres Per Capita Per Day) to a population of 4.62 lakh across 193 villages and one town in Mahisagar and Dahod districts.

Following these events, PM Modi will visit Bhuj, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for development projects worth more than Rs 53,000 crore. These will include infrastructure projects at Kandla Port, solar plants, power transmission systems, and road construction.

Beneficiary districts will include Kutch, Jamnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Ahmedabad, Tapi, and Mahisagar.

In the evening at 7:30 p.m., PM Modi will lead a three-km-long roadshow from Ahmedabad Airport to Indira Bridge. More than 50,000 BJP workers and citizens are expected to welcome him. He will stay overnight at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar.

On the morning of May 27, at 10:30 a.m., PM Modi will hold a two-km-long roadshow in Gandhinagar, where more than 30,000 BJP workers will welcome him.

Following the roadshow, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 5,536 crore at Mahatma Mandir.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate 22,055 houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at a cost of Rs 1,006 crore and will lay the foundation stone for Phase-3 of the Sabarmati Riverfront, which will be developed at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

Moreover, under the Swarnim Jayanti Mukhyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana, cheques worth Rs 3,300 crore will be distributed to urban local bodies.

–IANS

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