Prime Minister Narendra Modi will again visit his home State, Gujarat, on Monday. He will inaugurate the Ghogha-Dahej ferry service project being implemented by the Gujarat Maritime Board.
The ferry project seeks to connect Saurashtra and south Gujarat by sea to decrease the distance between the two coastal provinces in the State.
Though the formal inauguration of the project is on Monday, it will take six to eight months before the project becomes fully functional for public use.
In phases
“In the first phase, the ferry service will carry passengers, while the next phase will include transportation of cargo and vehicles,” Ajay Bhadoo, Chief Executive Officer of the board, said.
The ₹615-crore “roll-on, roll-off” (ro-ro) ferry project was launched when Mr. Modi was Chief Minister and he had called it his “dream project” to connect the two provinces.
The Prime Minister will address a gathering in Ghogha and undertake a journey to Dahej from Ghogha on the ferry. While disembarking from the boat in the industrial town of Dahej in Bharuch, he will halt briefly to address a meeting before leaving for Vadodara for the next event.
Transport hub
In Vadodara, he is scheduled to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for various projects.
Among them, the main project is a transport hub near the Vadodara railway station planned by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation. He will inaugurate seven new projects in the city, said Vadodara civic body chief Vinod Rao.
Mr. Rao said the Prime Minister would dedicate a ₹100-crore city command and control centre in Badamadi Garden, the ₹125-crore Janmahal city transport hub and multi-level parking (under PPP), a ₹160-crore multi-modal city transport hub and a ₹267-crore waste-to-energy processing plant.
The other projects are a ₹166-crore water treatment plant, two flyovers together estimated at ₹265 crore, a ₹55-crore deer safari park, and a ₹6-crore veterinary hospital.
The Prime Minister will also address a gathering in the city.
Mr. Modi has been making frequent trips to Gujarat ahead of the Assembly elections in the State. Address BJP workers last Monday, he launched a scathing attack on the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family, saying the “family will destroy Gujarat because it dislikes Gujarat and Gujaratis”, and the coming Assembly election in the State is a fight between “development and dynasty”.
Bullet train
In September, Mr. Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project which will be funded with a loan from Japan.
The Prime Minister had also dedicated the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada at an event coinciding with his 67th birthday on September 17.
