New Delhi: With the Assembly and Parliamentary elections round the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag-off a basket of projects worth Rs 14,523 crore as part of his Odisha visit December 24.
Addressing reporters here, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said investment is a continuation process with special focus on Odisha under the Prime Minister’s vision of Purvodaya (Look-East policy) which envisions rapid socio-economic development in states like Odisha to unleash their true potential and bring them at par with the most developed states.
Pradhan further said the Prime Minister will pay tribute to Paika warriors, who had raised a banner of revolt under the leadership of Buxi Jagabandhu against the oppressive Britishers in Khurda in 1817, 40 years ahead of the 1857 sepoy Mutiny.
“The Prime Minister will unveil Paika commemorative coins and stamp to mark the bi-centenary of Paika Bidroha. The PM will also announce establishment of Buxi Jagabandhu Chair at Utkal University with a corpus of Rs 5 crore. The Chair will be an international-level centre of excellence in research and extension in the fields of nationalist movement in Odisha,” Pradhan said.
Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma who also addressed the reporters said the Prime Minister will inaugurate an Archaeological Museum at Lalitgiri in Jajpur district.
“The Lalitgiri museum which was built at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore houses three sacred khondalite stone caskets that date back to the earliest phases of Buddhism, magnificent sculptures of Bodhisattva and a beautiful central hall gallery designed after a Buddhist Mandal displaying antiquities belonging to the first century CE to 12th century AD,’’ said Sharma. “The Prime Minister will dedicate the Indian Institute of Technology at Argul in Bhubaneswar, built on a sprawling 936-acre with an investment of Rs 1,260 crore, to the nation and lay the foundation stone for a permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Berhampur, which will come up at a cost of Rs 1,583 crore,” Sharma added.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to lay foundation of a 1212-km Paradip-Hyderabad pipeline project worth Rs 3800 crore, 667-km-long Bokaro-Angul section of Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra gas pipeline project (PM Urja Ganga) at a sanctioned cost of Rs 3,437 crore.
In order to boost infrastructure in the state, Modi will lay the foundation stone for six-laning of Chandikhole-Bhadrak and Tangi-Puintola section of NH 16, Khandagiri flyover and four laning of Cuttack-Angul section of NH 42 at a cost of Rs 4361 crore.
Further, the PM will inaugurate an ESI hospital at Bhubaneswar built at a cost of Rs 73.5 crore.
“The capacity of the old ESI hospital in the city is 50 beds and the hospital has been revamped and 50 more beds have been extended,’’ Pradhan added.
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