JHARSUGUDA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled development projects valued at more than Rs 60,000 crore in sectors such as telecommunications, railways and higher education, from Odisha's Jharsuguda.
Modi laid foundation stones for the expansion of eight IITs across the country, which will create capacity for 10,000 new students over the next four years. He flagged off the Amrit Bharat Express connecting Berhampur with Udhna in Gujarat's Surat district.
Modi dedicated to the nation the doubling of the 34-km Koraput-Baiguda rail line and the 82-km Manabar-Koraput-Gorapur section, built at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore. He commissioned more than 97,500 4G telecom towers built with BSNL's 'swadeshi' technology. He inaugurated a 5 km flyover in Sambalpur City, built at a cost of Rs 273 crore.
This was the Prime Minister's sixth visit to Odisha in 15 months since the BJP came to power in the state in June 2024.
Modi's visit to Jharsuguda comes after a gap of seven years. He had come to the town on September 22, 2018, to inaugurate Odisha's second commercial airport.