MADURAI/THOOTHUKUDI/TIRUNELVELI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart his two-day visit to the southern districts from Tuesday. His itinerary includes launching new initiatives. PM Modi's visit is significant as it comes ahead of the general elections.
According to the tentative itinerary, the PM is expected to take off from Thiruvananthapuram airport and land at Sulur airport by 2.10 pm on Tuesday. He will board another flight and land in Madurai by 5 pm, after addressing a public meeting at Tiruppur. Modi will address Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurs of the automotive sector in Madurai, and participate in 'Creating the Future - Digital Mobility for Automotive MSME Entrepreneurs' programme.
He will launch two major initiatives - TVS Open Mobility Platform and the TVS Mobility and CII Centre of Excellence, which has been designed to provide a fillip to the MSMEs, and help them integrate with global value chains and become self-reliant. PM Modi is also likely to visit the Meenakshi Amman Temple.
Following a halt in Madurai, the PM will then depart for the VO Chidambaranar Port in Thoothukudi, on Wednesday morning. The prime minister's schedule also entails him to lay the foundation stone of the Outer Harbour Container Terminal at the VOC port and inaugurate various projects, including desalination plant, hydrogen production, and bunkering facility aimed at turning the port into the first green hydrogen hub port of the country.
Modi will also launch India's first indigenous green hydrogen fuel cell inland waterway vessel under the Harit Nauka initiative, and announce tourist facilities at 75 lighthouses across 10 states and union territories during the programme. The PM will inaugurate railway operations on the Vanchi Maniyachchi - Tirunelveli section and Melapalayam - Aralvaimoli section, developed at the cost of about Rs 1,477 crore.
Besides, the PM will also dedicate four national highway road projects, which include four-laning of the Jittandahalli-Dharmapuri NH, two-laning with paved shoulders of the Meensurutti-Chidambaram NH, four-laning of the Oddanchatram-Madathukulam NH, and two-laning with paved shoulders of the Nagapattinam-Thanjavur NH, completed at a total cost of Rs 4,586 crore. This will be aimed at facilitating visits of pilgrims in Tamil Nadu.