Jharsuguda (Odisha), Sep 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated development projects worth over Rs 60,000 crore from Odisha’s Jharsuguda, spanning key sectors including telecommunications, railways, and higher education.
Modi laid the foundation stones for the expansion of eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) across India, which will accommodate an additional 10,000 students over the next four years. He also flagged off the Amrit Bharat Express, linking Berhampur in Odisha to Udhna in Gujarat’s Surat district.
In the rail sector, Modi dedicated to the nation the doubling of the 34-km Koraput–Baiguda rail line and the 82-km Manabar–Koraput–Gorapur section, constructed at a total cost of Rs 1,400 crore. In telecommunications, he inaugurated over 97,500 4G towers installed with BSNL’s indigenous technology.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated a 5 km flyover in Sambalpur city, completed at a cost of Rs 273 crore. This marks Modi’s sixth visit to Odisha in 15 months since the BJP assumed power in the state in June 2024 and his first visit to Jharsuguda in seven years; he had previously visited on September 22, 2018, to inaugurate Odisha’s second commercial airport.