Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Una and Chamba in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. He will flag off the Vande Bharat Express from Una railway station and lay the foundation stone of two hydropower projects at Chamba.
At a public function, the Prime Minister will also dedicate IIIT Una to the nation and lay the foundation stone of a Bulk Drug Park in Una to be built at a cost of Rs 1900 crore. After that, in a public function at Chamba, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of two hydropower projects and launch the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)-III in Himachal Pradesh.
The drug park will help reduce dependence on API imports. It is expected to attract investment of around Rs. 10,000 crores and provide employment to more than 20,000 people.
It will also give a fillip to economic activities in the region, according to the Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister will dedicate the IIIT Una to the nation. Its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister in 2017. Currently, more than 530 students are pursuing studies in this Institute.
He will also flag off the inaugural run of the new Vande Bharat Express. Running from Amb Andaura to New Delhi, it will be the fourth Vande Bharat train to be introduced in the country and is an advanced version compared to the earlier ones, being much lighter and capable of reaching higher speed in shorter duration. It accelerates to 100 Km/h in just 52 seconds.
The introduction of the train will help boost tourism in the region and provide a comfortable and faster mode of travel. Modi will lay the foundation stone of two hydropower projects – the 48 MW Chanju-III Hydro-electric Project and the 30 MW Deothal Chanju Hydro-electric Project.
Both these projects will generate over 270 million units of electricity annually and Himachal Pradesh is expected to get annual revenue of around Rs. 110 crore from these projects.
He will also launch PMGSY-III for upgradation of around 3125 kms of roads in the State. More than Rs. 420 crore has been sanctioned by the Central Government under this phase for the upgradation of 440 kms of roads in 15 border and far flung Blocks of the State, said the PMO statement.
