PM to inaugurate, launch projects worth more than Rs 30,000 crore in Maharashtra

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link, officially known as ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee Smruti Sewri Nhava Sheva Atal Setu’. During his Maharashtra visit, the PM will inaugurate and lay foundation stones of projects worth more than Rs 30,000 crores in Maharashtra including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Nashik. He will also lay the foundation stone of an underground road tunnel connecting the Eastern Freeway to Marine Drive. The 9.2 Km tunnel will be built at a cost of more than Rs 8700 crore.

The PM will reach Nashik at around 12:15 PM, where he will inaugurate the 27th National Youth Festival. The festival is organised every year from January 12, which is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, to January 16. About 7,500 youth delegates from across the country will be taking part in the festival at Nasik this year.

At around 3.30 pm, Mr. Modi will reach Mumbai, where he will inaugurate and travel on MTHL, which is the longest sea bridge in India. Constructed at a total cost of around Rs 17,840 crore, it is about 22 km long six-lane bridge having about 16.5 km length over the sea and about 5.5 km on land. It will provide faster connectivity to Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport and reduce the travel time from Mumbai to Pune, Goa, and South India. It will also improve connectivity between Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

The Prime Minister would also inaugurate, dedicate to the nation, and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 12,700 crore in the public programme in Navi Mumbai.

The PM will also launch Namo Mahila Shashaktikaran Abhiyaan which seeks to empower women in the state of Maharashtra by providing skill development training and exposure to entrepreneurship development. It will also attempt to converge women's development programmes of the state and central governments and will be implemented through Umed, a cell of the women and child welfare department.

“It is the ambitious programme of chief minister Eknath Shinde who had announced it immediately after the women reservation bill was passed in the parliament two months ago,” said an official from the chief minister’s office.

The BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra, which also includes Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde and the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, is hoping that the PM’s visit will kickstart its election campaign for Lok Sabha. The alliance has set a target to win at least 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. The alliance has organised joint meetings in all districts of Maharashtra on January 14