PM in Siliguri today, to unveil infra projects : will inaugurate multiple projects of railway line electrification

 PM will unveil infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,500 crore in Siliguri, the largest city in the region, and then address a BJP rally.

PTI, Kolkata, Mar 8, 2024 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit northern West Bengal on Saturday, which will be his third trip to the state this month.

During the visit, the PM will unveil infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,500 crore in Siliguri, the largest city in the region, and then address a BJP rally.

The PM will inaugurate multiple projects of railway line electrification that will benefit the people of northern West Bengal and nearby areas, an official statement said.

These railway lines are the Eklakhi-Balurghat section, Barsoi-Radhikapur section, Raninagar Jalpaiguri-Haldibari section, Siliguri-Aluabari section via Bagdogra, and the Siliguri–Sivok–Alipurduar Junction–Samuktala section, it said.

He will also inaugurate the doubling of the railway line in the Manigram-Nimtita section and automatic block signalling in the Ambari-Falakata-Aluabari section. The PM will also flag off a new passenger train service between Siliguri and Radhikapur, it said.

These projects will improve rail connectivity, facilitate freight movement and contribute to employment generation and economic growth in the region, the statement said.

The PM will also inaugurate two national highway projects worth Rs 3,100 crore in West Bengal.

These are the four-lane Ghospukur-Dhupguri section and the four-lane Islampur Bypass on NH 27. The Ghospukur-Dhupguri Section is part of the north-south transport corridor, connecting eastern India with the rest of the country.

“After the government programme, the PM will be addressing a rally in Siliguri’s Kawakhali Ground,” a BJP leader said.

During the earlier two trips this month, the prime minister visited different districts of southern West Bengal — Hooghly, Nadia and North 24 Parganas, considered the stronghold of the TMC.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had swept northern West Bengal, which the PM is visiting this time.

On March 1, the PM unveiled projects worth Rs 7,200 crore in Arambagh in Hooghly district, and on March 2, he unveiled projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in Krishnanagar in Nadia. On March 6, he inaugurated multiple metro railway projects in Kolkata.