KOLKATA: The Prime Minister on Sunday launched development projects worth over Rs 830 crore in poll-bound West Bengal and flagged off three Amrit Bharat trains connecting Kolkata with other parts of the country.
At a function in Singur in Hooghly district, the Prime Minister also inaugurated the Jayrambati–Barogopinathpur–Maynapur rail line and flagged off a train between Maynapur and Jayrambati.
On Saturday, Modi had flagged off the country’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train between Howrah and Guwahati (Kamakhya) from Malda Town station in poll-bound West Bengal. He also virtually flagged off the return Guwahati–Howrah Vande Bharat sleeper train from there.
“All central projects will accelerate the development, including employment generation, of West Bengal. The central government is working to meet the goal of a developed eastern India,” Modi said while addressing the programme in Singur.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the Extended Port Gate System, including an Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal and a road over bridge, at Balagarh in Hooghly district.
Spread over approximately 900 acres of land, Balagarh is being developed as a modern cargo handling terminal with an envisaged capacity of about 2.7 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The Balagarh project aims to significantly improve cargo evacuation efficiency by diverting vessel movement away from congested urban corridors.
Modi also flagged off three Amrit Bharat Express trains connecting Kolkata with New Delhi, Varanasi and Chennai. These trains will run on the Howrah–Anand Vihar Terminal, Sealdah–Banaras and Santragachi–Tambaram routes.
With an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls in Bengal, four modern Amrit Bharat Express trains — New Jalpaiguri–Nagercoil Amrit Bharat Express, New Jalpaiguri–Tiruchchirappalli Amrit Bharat Express, Alipurduar–Bengaluru Amrit Bharat Express and Alipurduar–Mumbai Amrit Bharat Express — have already been announced for the state.
This will further strengthen the connectivity of Bengal, especially North Bengal, with South and West India.