Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the 31 km long Roll-on, Roll-off (Ro-Ro) from Ghogha port in Bhavnagar district to Dahej port in Bharuch district on Sunday in his poll bound home-state Gujarat.
The Prime Minister would also travel aboard this Ro-Ro ferry along with school children. The service, which has been hanging fire since 1995 was first, conceived in early 1960s. The foundation stone for current works had been laid by Narendra Modi in 2012, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
The Ro-Ro ferry will connect two regions of the State – Saurashtra and South Gujarat. By road distance between Ghogha to Dahej is more than 300 km which would reduce to just 30 km. The facility is also expected to reduce travel time from six hours currently to one after Ro-Ro service begins. Most of the people working in diamond and textiles hub of Surat in South Gujarat belong to Saurashtra region and the service would be a boon for them.
On Sunday PM Modi would land in Bhavnagar, where he would inaugurate the first phase of Rs 615-crore ferry service project between Ghogha and Dahej across the Gulf of Cambay (Khambhat). In the first phase, only passenger services would begin, while in the second phase cars can also be carried on ferries. The second phase is expected to be ready by next January-end. In the final phase, the ferries would also have facility to carry trucks.
On his arrival at Dahej, PM would travel to Vadodara where he is scheduled to address a public rally at Navlakhi ground. He is slated to lay foundation stones and inaugurate projects worth Rs 1,140 crore in Vadodara at Navlakhi Ground, before taking out a 14-km road show to Vadodara airport, before flying off to New Delhi. Modi would make his 19th visit to Gujarat after he took over as Prime Minister in May 2014. This would also be his third in the month of October.