PM to visit Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep and Kerala on 2nd – 3rd January 20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep on 2nd & 3rd January 2024.

On 2nd January, 2024, at around 10:30 AM, Prime Minister will reach Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. He will be the Chief Guest at the 38th Convocation Ceremony of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli.  At around 12 Noon, at a public programme in Tiruchirappalli, Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 19,850 crore related to aviation, rail, road, oil and gas, shipping and higher education sectors. At around 3:15 PM, Prime Minister will reach Agatti, Lakshadweep where he will address a public function. On 3rd January, 2024, at around 12 Noon, Prime Minister will reach Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, where he will dedicate to nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects in Lakshadweep related to sectors such as telecommunications, drinking water, solar power and health, among others,

PM in Tamil Nadu

At the 38th Convocation Ceremony of Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Prime Minister will give awards to the meritorious students of the University. He will also address the gathering on the occasion.

At the public programme in Tiruchirappalli, Prime Minister will inaugurate the New Terminal Building at Tiruchirappalli International Airport. Developed at a cost of more than 1100 crore, the two-level new international terminal building has the capacity to serve more than 44 lakh passengers annually and about 3500 passengers during peak hours. The new terminal hosts state- of -the- art amenities and features for passenger convenience.

Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation multiple railway projects worth. These include the project for doubling of 41.4 Km Salem–Magnesite Junction–Omalur–Mettur Dam section; project for doubling of rail line section of 160 Km from Madurai – Tuticorin; and three projects for rail line electrification viz Tiruchchirappalli- Manamadurai- Virudhunagar; Virudhunagar – Tenkasi Junction; Sengottai – Tenkasi Junction – Tirunelveli- Tiruchendur. The rail projects will help in improving the rail capacity to carry freight and passengers and contribute to economic development and employment generation in Tamil Nadu.

Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation five road sector projects. The projects include 39 km four lane road for Trichy – Kallagam section of NH-81; 60 km long 4/2-laning of Kallagam – Meensurutti section of NH-81; 29 km four-lane road of Chettikulam – Natham section of NH-785; 80 km long two lane with paved shoulder of Karaikudi – Ramanathapuram section of NH-536; and 44 km long four laning of section of NH-179A Salem – Tirupathur – Vaniyambadi Road. The road projects will facilitate safe and faster travel of people of the region and improve connectivity of industrial and commercial centres like Trichy, Srirangam, Chidambaram, Rameshwaram, Dhanushkodi, Uthirakosamangai, Devipattinam, Erwadi, Madurai, among others.

During the programme, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of important road development projects. These include construction of 31 km long stretch four lane road from Mugaiyur to Marakkanam of NH 332A. The road will connect ports at the East Coast of Tamil Nadu, enhance road connectivity to the world heritage site – Mamallapuram and provide better connectivity to Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant.

Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation the General Cargo Berth-II (Automobile Export/Import Terminal-II & Capital Dredging Phase-V) of Kamarajar Port.  The inauguration of General Cargo Berth-II will be a step towards strengthening the country’s trade which will help boost economic growth and employment generation.

During the programme, Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of important Petroleum and Natural Gas projects worth more than Rs 9000 crore. The two projects dedicated to the Nation include Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL)’s 488 km long natural gas pipeline from IP101 (Chengalpet) to IP 105 (Sayalkudi) section of Ennore – Thiruvallur – Bengaluru – Puducherry – Nagapattinam – Madurai – Tuticorin Pipeline; and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)’s 697 km long Vijayawada-Dharmapuri Multiproduct (POL) Petroleum Pipeline (VDPL).

Further, the projects whose foundation stone will be laid include development of 323 Km of natural gas pipeline from Krishnagiri to Coimbatore section of Kochi-Koottanad-Bangalore-Mangalore Gas pipeline II (KKBMPL II) by Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL); and laying of POL pipelines in Common Corridor for proposed grass root terminal at Vallur, Chennai. These projects of the petroleum and natural gas sector will be a step towards fulfilling the industrial, domestic and commercial requirements of the energy in the region. These will also lead to employment generation in the region and contribute to employment generation.

Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the Demonstration Fast Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant (DFRP) at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam.  The DFRP, developed at a cost of Rs. 400 crore, is equipped with a unique design, which is the only of its kind in the world and is capable of reprocessing both carbide and oxide fuels discharged from the fast reactors.  It is entirely designed by Indian scientists and signifies a crucial step towards building large commercial-scale fast reactor fuel reprocessing plants.

Among other projects, Prime Minister will inaugurate the 500 bedded Boys’ Hostel ‘AMETHYST’ of National Institute of Technology (NIT) – Tiruchirappalli.

PM in Lakshadweep

In his visit to Lakshadweep, Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate to Nation and lay the foundation stone of development projects worth more than Rs 1150 crore.

In a transformative move, the Prime Minister had resolved to overcome the challenge of slow internet speed in the Lakshadweep island by initiating the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection (KLI – SOFC) project and made announcement regarding the same in the Independence Day speech in August 2020 at Red Fort. The project has now been completed and will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This will lead to an increase of internet speed for more than 100 times (from 1.7 Gbps to 200 Gbps).  For the first time since independence, Lakshadweep will be connected through Submarine Optic Fibre Cable. The dedicated submarine OFC will ensure a paradigm shift in communication infrastructure in the Lakshadweep islands, enabling faster and more reliable internet services, telemedicine, e-governance, educational initiatives, digital banking, digital currency usage, digital literacy etc.

Prime Minister will dedicate to the Nation the Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) plant at Kadmat. This will produce 1.5 lakh litres of clean drinking water every day. Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) in all households of Agatti and Minicoy islands. The availability of potable water was always a challenge in the islands of Lakshadweep as being a coral island, it has very limited ground water availability. These drinking projects will also help in strengthening the tourism capacity of the islands, leading to increased local employment opportunities.

Other projects which are dedicated to Nation include the solar power plant at Kavaratti, which is the first ever battery backed solar power project of Lakshadweep. It will help to reduce dependency on Diesel based Power Generation plant; and the new administrative block and 80 Men barrack in India Reserve Battalion (IRBn) Complex at Kavaratti.

Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the renovation of Primary Health Care facility in Kalpeni and the construction of five model Anganwadi Centres (Nand Ghars) in the five islands of Androth, Chetlat, Kadmat, Agatti and Minicoy.