Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s visit to Odisha today.
As per reports, PM Modi will inaugurate the new campus of Sambalpur IIM on Saturday afternoon. CM Naveen is also said to be there. They are likely to share the dais too.
While PM Modi’s visit to Sambalpur bears much significance for Odisha politics, his probable meeting with CM Naveen, just ahead of the General Elections, has set the rumour mill rolling with speculations and conjectures flying around the political corridors.
However, the inauguration of the IIM campus is a government programme. So the presence of CM Naveen might be a formality as well.
As per reports, the Prime Minister will leave New Delhi in the afternoon and arrive at Jharsuguda airport, and from there he will board a special Indian Air Force aircraft to Sambalpur.
During his visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 68,000 crore in Odisha.
Prime Minister will inaugurate ‘Dhamra – Angul Pipeline Section’ (412 Km) of ‘Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL)’. Built at a cost of more than Rs 2450 crore under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga’, the project will connect Odisha with the National Gas Grid. Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of ‘Nagpur Jharsuguda Natural Gas Pipeline Section’ (692 Km)’ of Mumbai-Nagpur-Jharsuguda Pipeline. The project, which will be developed at a cost of more than Rs 2660 crore, will improve the natural gas availability to states like Odisha, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
During the programme, Prime Minister will also dedicate to nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple power projects worth about 28,980 crore. The projects to be dedicated to nation include NTPC Darlipali Super Thermal Power Station (2x800 MW) and NSPCL Rourkela PP-II Expansion Project (1x250 MW) in Sundargarh district of Odisha. He will also lay the foundation stone of NTPC Talcher Thermal Power Project, Stage-III (2x660 MW) in Angul district of Odisha. These power projects will supply low-cost power to Odisha as well as several other states.