PM launches Rs 32,000-crore worth development projects in JK

JAMMU, February 20: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched multiple development projects, including for education, railway, aviation and road sectors, in Jammu and Kashmir worth over Rs 32,000 crore.

From Jammu, the prime minister also launched or laid foundation stone of projects worth Rs 13,500 crore across the country.

These projects include Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and central universities.

Modi distributed appointment letters to about 1,500 newly recruited government employees of Jammu and Kashmir and also interacted with the beneficiaries of various schemes as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu’ programme.

Among the railway projects that Modi inaugurated are the railway line between Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan (48 km) and the newly electrified Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan section (185.66 km).

He flagged off the first electric train in the Valley and the train service between Sangaldan and Baramulla stations.

The commissioning of the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section is significant as it features the usage of ballast less track (BLT) all along the route providing a better ride experience to passengers.

India’s longest transportation tunnel T-50 (12.77 km) lies in the portion between Khari and Sumber.

The railway projects are expected to improve connectivity, ensure environmental sustainability and boost the overall economic development of the region. The prime minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several projects worth about Rs 13,500 crore for other parts of the country.

The projects include permanent campuses for IIT Bhilai, IIT Tirupati, IIT Jammu, IIITDM Kancheepuram, Indian Institute of Skills (IIS), a pioneer skills training institute on advanced technologies located at Kanpur, and campuses of Central Sanskrit University at Devprayag (Uttarakhand) and Agartala (Tripura).

He also inaugurated three new IIMs in the country — IIM Jammu, IIM Bodh Gaya and IIM Visakhapatnam — besides 20 new buildings for Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and 13 for new Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) buildings across the country.

As part of his government’s efforts to provide comprehensive, quality and holistic tertiary-care health services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the prime minister also inaugurated the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vijaypur (Samba), Jammu, officials said.

The institute, whose foundation stone was laid by him in February 2019, has been established under the central government’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana’.

Set up at a cost of over Rs 1,660 crore and in an area spanning over 227 acres, the hospital is equipped with 720 beds, a medical college with 125 seats, a nursing college with 60 seats, an AYUSH block with 30 beds, residential accommodation for faculty and staff, hostel accommodation for UG and PG students and a shopping complex among other facilities.

Among other projects, Modi laid the foundation stone for a new terminal building at the Jammu airport.

Spread over 40,000 sqm, the new terminal building will be equipped with modern facilities catering to about 2,000 passengers during peak hours, and will be environment friendly.

Modi laid the foundation stone of important road projects including two stretches (44.22 km) of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway connecting Jammu to Katra and phase-two for the four-laning of the Srinagar Ring road.

He laid the foundation stone for a project to develop the CUF (Common User Facility) petroleum depot at Jammu as well.