PM Modi to flag off Kerala’s first Vande Bharat Express train today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to embark on a two-day jam-packed visit to Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu from April 24.

According to the itinerary, released by Prime Minister's Office, on April 24, at around 11.30 am, PM Modi will attend a programme marking National Panchayati Raj Day in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, where he will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation, projects worth around ₹19,000 crores.

Sharing the details further, the PMO said, the Prime Minister, during his visit to Madhya Pradesh's Rewa, will participate in the celebration of National Panchayati Raj Day and address all the Gram Sabhas and Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country.

"During the event, Prime Minister will inaugurate an integrated eGramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at Panchayat level. The objective of eGramSwaraj - Government eMarketplace integration is to enable the Panchayats to procure their goods and services through GeM, leveraging the eGramSwaraj platform," PMO said.

Prime Minister will hand over around 35 lakhs SVAMITVA Property Cards to beneficiaries. Post this programme, around 1.25 crore property cards would have been distributed under SVAMITVA Scheme in the country, including those distributed here.

Taking a step towards fulfilling the vision of achieving 'Housing for All', Prime Minister will participate in a programme marking the 'Griha Pravesh' of more than 4 lakh beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin.

Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of various railway projects worth around ₹4200 crore. The projects that will be dedicated include 100 percent rail electrification in Madhya Pradesh, along with various doubling, gauge conversion and electrification projects. Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of redevelopment of Gwalior station.

Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of projects worth about Rs.7,000 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

On April 25, at around 10:30 am, he will flag off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station.

The train will cover 11 Districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.

Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone and dedicate various projects to the nation worth more than Rs. 3200 crores. Prime Minister will dedicate the Kochi water metro to the nation. This one of its kind projects connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city. Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.

During the event, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; the comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and the increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.

Apart from this, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with academia. As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, Data Analytics, Cyber Security, Smart Materials etc. The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around ₹200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around ₹1515 Crore.

At around 4 pm, Prime Minister will visit NAMO Medical Education & Research Institute and at around 4:30 pm, he will lay the foundation stone and dedicate to the nation various development projects worth more than ₹4,850 crores at Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.