PM Modi unveils projects worth over Rs 4,500 crore in northern West Bengal

Siliguri, Mar 9 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,500 crore in northern West Bengal on Saturday.

The PM unveiled the projects at a programme in Siliguri, the region’s largest city, during his third visit to the state this month. Governor CV Ananda Bose was among those present at the programme.

Addressing the function, Modi said eastern India was ignored after Independence but his government considers it as the growth engine of the country.

“Over the last 10 years, the development of Bengal, especially North Bengal, has been a priority for our government,” he said.

The PM inaugurated multiple projects of railway line electrification that will benefit the people of northern West Bengal and nearby areas, an official statement said.

These railway lines are the Eklakhi-Balurghat section, Barsoi-Radhikapur section, Raninagar Jalpaiguri-Haldibari section, Siliguri-Aluabari section via Bagdogra, and the Siliguri Sivok Alipurduar Junction Samuktala section, it said.

He also inaugurated the doubling of the railway line in the Manigram-Nimtita section and automatic block signaling in the Ambari-Falakata-Aluabari section. The PM also flagged off a new passenger train service between Siliguri and Radhikapur, it said.

These projects will improve rail connectivity, facilitate freight movement and contribute to employment generation and economic growth in the region, the statement said.

The PM also inaugurated two national highway projects worth Rs 3,100 crore in West Bengal.

These are the four-lane Ghospukur-Dhupguri section and the four-lane Islampur Bypass on NH 27. The Ghospukur-Dhupguri Section is part of the north-south transport corridor, connecting eastern India with the rest of the country.

During the earlier two trips this month, the prime minister visited different districts of southern West Bengal — Hooghly, Nadia and North 24 Parganas, considered the stronghold of the TMC.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had swept northern West Bengal, which the PM is visiting this time.

On March 1, the PM unveiled projects worth Rs 7,200 crore in Arambagh in Hooghly district, and on March 2, he unveiled projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in Krishnanagar in Nadia. On March 6, he inaugurated multiple metro railway projects in Kolkata.