PM Modi To Give Big Infra Push To Jammu And Kashmir Ahead Of Assembly Elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu today where he will launch multiple development projects, including for education, railway, aviation, and road sectors, worth over Rs 32,000 crore ahead of this year's assembly elections. The Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission of India to hold polls in J&K before September 2024. The elections are pending in J&K since 2018 President Rule and abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

With various infrastructure projects, the Narendra Modi government not only aims to improve the Union Territories lifestyle but also boost the BJP's poll prospect there. In a statement,  Prime Minister's Office said the projects relate to several sectors, including health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, and civic infrastructure, among others.

At around 11:30 AM, Prime Minister Modi will address a public function at the Maulana Azad Stadium, Jammu and will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects and distribute appointment orders to about 1500 new Government recruits of Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister will also interact with beneficiaries of various government schemes as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ programme.

Boost To Education Sector

In a significant step towards upgrading and developing education and skilling infrastructure across the country, Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate, dedicate to nation and lay the foundation stone of several projects’ worth about Rs 13,375 crore. The Prime Minister will dedicate to nation permanent campus of IIT Bhilai, IIT Tirupati, IISER Tirupati, IIITDM Kurnool; academic and residential complex in IIT Patna and IIT Ropar; two permanent campuses of Central Sanskrit University - at Devprayag (Uttarakhand) and at Agartala (Tripura). Prime Minister will inaugurate permanent campuses of IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM Jammu and IIM Bodh Gaya. He will also inaugurate Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) - a pioneer skill training institute on advanced technologies in Kanpur.

Prime Minister Modi will also inaugurate and dedicate to nation improved infrastructure like hostels, academic blocs, administrative building, library, auditorium etc in multiple higher educational institutes across the country like IIT Jammu, NIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, NIT Durgapur, IISER Behrampur, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, IIIT Lucknow, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, Central University of Kerala Kasaragod, among others.

He will lay the foundation stone of multiple projects for upgrading the infrastructure in several higher educational institutes across the country. These projects include construction of permanent campus of Sindhu Central University and IIIT Raichur; construction of academic block, hostel, faculty quarter etc in IIT Bombay; construction of Hostel and Staff Quarter in IIT Gandhinagar, construction of Girls hostel in BHU, among others.

Health Sector

In a step that will provide comprehensive, quality and holistic tertiary care health services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Modi will inaugurate All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vijaypur (Samba), Jammu. The institute, whose foundational stone was also laid by the Prime Minister in February 2019, is being established under the Central sector scheme Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.

Established at a cost of over Rs 1,660 crore and in an area spanning over 227 acres, the hospital is equipped with facilities like 720 beds, Medical College with 125 seats, Nursing College with 60 seats, AYUSH Block with 30 beds, residential accommodation for faculty and staff, hostel accommodation for UG and PG students, Night Shelter, Guest House, Auditorium, Shopping Complex etc.  The state-of-the-art hospital will provide high quality patient care services in 18 Specialities and 17 Super Specialities including Cardiology, Gastro-enterology, Nephrology, Urology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Endocrinology, Burns & Plastic Surgery. The Institute will have an Intensive Care Unit, Emergency & Trauma Unit, 20 Modular Operation Theatres, Diagnostic Laboratories, Blood Bank, Pharmacy etc. The Hospital will also leverage Digital Health Infrastructure to reach out to far flung areas of the region.

Connectivity Push - Air, Railways, Road

Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone for a new terminal building at Jammu Airport. To be spread over 40,000 sqm area, the new terminal building will be equipped with modern facilities catering to about 2000 passengers during peak hours. The new terminal building will be environment friendly and will be built such that it showcases local culture of the region. It will strengthen air connectivity, boost tourism and trade and accelerate economic growth of the region.

Prime Minister Modi will dedicate to the nation various rail projects in Jammu & Kashmir including the new rail line between Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan (48 Km) and the newly electrified Baramulla-Sringar-Banihal-Sangaldan section (185.66 Km). The Prime Minister will also flag off the first Electric Train in the valley and also train service between Sangaldan station & Baramulla station.

The commissioning of the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section is significant as it features the usage of Ballast Less Track (BLT) all along the route providing a better riding experience to the passengers. Also, India’s longest transportation tunnel T-50 (12.77 Km) lies in this portion between Khari-Sumber. The rail projects will improve connectivity, ensure environmental sustainability and boost the overall economic development of the region.

During the programme, Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone of important road projects including two packages (44.22 KM) of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway connecting Jammu to Katra; Phase two for four-laning of Srinagar Ring Road; five packages for upgrading the 161 km long Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri stretch of NH-01; and the construction of Kulgam Bypass & Pulwama bypass on NH-444.

The two packages of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, once completed will facilitate the visit of pilgrims to the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi, and will also boost economic development in the region; The Phase two for four-laning of Srinagar Ring Road involves upgrading the existing Sumbal-Wayul NH-1. This brownfield project of length 24.7 Km, will reduce the traffic congestion in and around the Srinagar city. It will improve connectivity to popular tourist destinations like Manasbal Lake and Kheer Bhawani Temple, and also reduce travel time to Leh, Ladakh; The project for upgradation of 161 km long Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri stretch of NH-01, is of strategic importance. It will also boost the economic development of Baramulla & Uri; Kulgam Bypass & Pulwama bypass on NH-444 connecting Qazigund - Kulgam - Shopian - Pulwama - Badgam - Srinagar will also boost road infrastructure in the region.

CUF Petroleum Depot

Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for a project to develop CUF (Common User Facility) Petroleum depot at Jammu. The state of art fully automated depot which will be developed at a cost of about Rs 677 crore, will have storage capacity of about 100000 KL for storing Motor Spirit (MS), High Speed Diesel (HSD), Superior Kerosene Oil (SKO), Aviation Turbine fuel (ATF), Ethanol, Bio diesel and winter grade HSD.

Other Projects

Prime Minister MOdi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of several development projects worth more than Rs 3,150 crore for strengthening the civic infrastructure and provisioning of public facilities across Jammu and Kashmir. The projects to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi include, Road projects & Bridges; Grid Stations, receiving stations transmission line Projects; Common Effluent Treatment Plants and Sewage Treatment Plants; Several Degree College buildings; Intelligent Traffic Management system in Srinagar city; Modern Narwal Fruit Mandi; Drug Testing Laboratory at Kathua; and Transit accommodation - 224 flats at Ganderbal and Kupwara. The projects whose foundation stone will be laid include development of five new Industrial Estates across Jammu and Kashmir; Data Centre/ Disaster Recovery Centre for Integrated Command and Control Centre of Jammu Smart City; Up-gradation of Transport Nagar at Parimpora Srinagar; Up-gradation of 62 road projects and 42 bridges and   project for development of transit accommodation - 2816 flats at nine locations in districts Anantnag, Kulgam, Kupwara, Shopian & Pulwama, among others.