PM to visit Bengal on Friday; will address rally in Durgapur, launch projects worth Rs 5,000 crore

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit West Bengal on Friday, where he is likely to address a BJP rally in Durgapur and unveil multiple development projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore.

With the Assembly elections due in April-May next year, Modi's visit assumes political significance, especially because it comes days before Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee's Martyrs Day rally here on July 21.

"PM will arrive in Durgapur from Bihar. First, he will take part in a government programme where he will launch various projects. Then he will address a public meeting of the party," a senior state BJP leader said.

This will be the PM's first visit to the state after the appointment of new state president Samik Bhattacharya earlier this month.

According to political observers, since it will be the last Martyrs' Day rally of the TMC before the Assembly polls, Banerjee is likely to use this platform to give a clear political message to her main political rival, the BJP. She is also expected to announce new schemes to lure voters.

On Wednesday, Banerjee held a protest march in Kolkata against the alleged harassment and torture of Bengali-speaking people in several BJP-ruled states.

In a major push to oil and gas infrastructure, Modi will lay the foundation stone for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd's (BPCL) City Gas Distribution (CGD) project in Bankura and Purulia districts, worth around Rs 1,950 crore.

The PM is also scheduled to dedicate to the nation the 132-km Durgapur-Kolkata section of the Durgapur-Haldia Natural Gas Pipeline, laid under the ambitious Jagdishpur-Haldia and Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline (PM Urja Ganga) project at a cost of Rs 1,190 crore.

This section traverses through Purba Bardhaman, Hooghly, and Nadia districts and is poised to supply natural gas to lakhs of households, apart from generating both direct and indirect employment.

Furthering his government's commitment to cleaner energy, Modi will dedicate to the nation the Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) systems installed at Durgapur Steel Thermal Power Station and Raghunathpur Thermal Power Station under the Damodar Valley Corporation.

The pollution control retrofitting project, worth over Rs 1,457 crore, is expected to significantly improve air quality and ensure cleaner energy production in the region.

Boosting rail infrastructure, the prime minister will dedicate the doubling of the 36-km Purulia-Kotshila rail line in Purulia, worth over Rs 390 crore.

The enhanced rail connectivity is expected to facilitate industrial freight movements between hubs such as Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Ranchi, and Kolkata, ensuring faster logistics and reduced travel time.

In the road sector, Modi is scheduled to inaugurate two new road over bridges (ROBs) constructed under the Setu Bharatam Programme at Topsi and Pandabeshwar in Paschim Bardhaman district.

Built at a cost of over Rs 380 crore, the bridges aim to ease connectivity and help prevent accidents at busy railway level crossings.