Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Friday, where he is scheduled to inaugurate and lay foundation stones of ten projects worth around Rs 7,600 crore, officials said.
It will be Modi's first visit to the Congress-ruled state where Assembly elections are due this year-end, after being elected as the prime minister for the second term in 2019.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Chhattisgarh believe that Modi's visit will energise the party workers, who are gearing up for the polls in the state. The party had lost the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh in 2018, after being in power for 15 years.
The prime minister's event will be held at the Science College ground here at 10.45 am, an official said.
The PM will dedicate to the nation four-laning of the 33-km-long Raipur-Kodebod section of the National Highway 30, the 53-km-long four-lane Bilaspur-Pathrapali stretch of NH-130, and lay foundation stone for construction of three sections (Jhanki- Sargi (43 km), Sargi –Basanwahi (57 km) and Basanwahi-Marangpuri (25 km)) as a part of the six-lane Raipur-Visakhapatnam economic corridor NH-130 CD, he said.
The PM will also dedicate to the nation the doubling of the 103-km-long Raipur-Khariar Road Rail Line, built at a cost of Rs 750 crore, a 17-km-long new railway line connecting Keoti-Antagarh, and a bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation with a capacity of 60,000 metric ton per annum in Korba constructed at a cost of over Rs 130 crore, the official said.
Besides, the prime minister will also kickstart the distribution of 75 lakh cards to beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and flag off a new train from Antagarh (Kanker district) to Raipur, he said.
The PM will subsequently address a public meeting at the same venue.
"PM Modi's first rally in the state before the elections will energise the party workers and rejuvenate the supporters," state BJP chief Arun Sao said.
All the preparations have been done for the public meeting and lakhs of people are expected to attend it, he said.
According to police, a massive security cover has been put in place at the programme venue.
A multi-layered security blanket, involving personnel of the state police besides contingents of Special Protection Group (SPG), has been put in place in the area, located in the mid of the city, a police official said.
While refusing to spell out details of security, he said, the venue of the event has already been fortified and the adjoining areas have been sanitised.
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