Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday visited Chhattisgarh's Raipur where he laid the foundation stone for developmental projects and distributed 75 lakh cards to beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. During the event, PM Modi said that the projects will create new employment opportunities for the people of the region. "The biggest thing is that these will start a new journey of convenience and development in tribal areas," he said. At the event, he laid the foundation stone for three National Highway projects for the Chhattisgarh section of the 6-lane greenfield Raipur-Visakhapatnam corridor.
The Prime Minister also dedicated to the nation the doubling of the 103-km Raipur-Khariar Road Rail Line, constructed at a cost of Rs 750 crore. He will also dedicate to the nation the bottling plant of Indian Oil Corporation with a capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes per annum at Korba built at a cost of over Rs 130 crore.
During his Raipur visit, Modi distributed 75 lakh cards to benficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
"Today Chhattisgarh is getting a gift of projects worth more than Rs 7,000 crore. These gifts are for infrastructure, connectivity and to make life easier for the people here and to improve the health services here," he said during his address.
"In the last 9 years, roads have reached thousands of tribal villages in Chhattisgarh under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. The Government of India has approved projects of about 3,500 km long National Highway here. In this, the projects of about 3 thousand km have also been completed," he added.
Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and Union minister Nitin Gadkari were also present in the event.
“Chhattisgarh is steadily moving towards development and we expect that the Centre will extend monetary support as ours is a new-born state,” CM Baghel said during the event.
After his Raipur tour, PM Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Varanasi later in the day.