PM in Kolkata on Friday with Rs 7,800 crore projects gift for Bengal

Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a short five-hour trip to Kolkata on Friday with a gift of projects worth Rs 7,800 crore for West Bengal, the formal announcement of which will be made on that day only.

According to state government sources, the projects will be under various schemes like sanitations, railways and metro railways, the 'Clean Ganga' mission, among others.

As per the schedule of the Prime Minister's visit, his special flight will be landing at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at around 10.30 a.m. From there, his convoy will reach Howrah station at around 11.15 a.m., where he will be inaugurating West Bengal's first Vande Bharat Express that will run from Howrah to New Jalpaiguri.

His convoy is expected to leave the station premises at around 11.45 a.m. and at around 12 noon, he will be garlanding a statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose adjacent to INS Netaji Subhash in the Hastings area. After paying a short visit to an exhibition there, the Prime Minister will attend a meeting of the National Ganga Council which is expected to start around 12.30 p.m. and continue till 2 p.m.

Besides West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her counterparts from three of four other states through which River Ganga is flowing, namely Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand are also expected to attend the meeting. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has deputed Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav for the meet.

As per schedule, the lunch break has been scheduled from 2 p.m. to 2.45 p.m., after which the Prime Minister's convoy will rush to the airport, from where his special flight will take off for New Delhi at 3.25 p.m.

Meanwhile, security arrangements have already been beefed up at Howrah Station. Entry of trains at three platforms in the new complex has already been restricted. The Special Protection Group (SPG) commandos have already started taking charge of security there.