PM Modi will also visit Dwarka city and offer prayers at Dwarkadhish temple. (file)
Ahmedabad/Dwarka:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Gujarat’s first All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rajkot on February 25, state Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said on Friday.
This will be one of the five AIIMS to be dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister from Rajkot on February 25, the minister said.
During his visit to the state, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate a four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and Bayt Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka district besides holding a road show in Jamnagar.
Speaking to reporters in Gandhinagar, Minister Patel said the out-patient department (OPD) of the super-specialty hospital near Para Pipliya village on the outskirts of Rajkot city was already operational.
The PM, who laid the foundation stone of the mega facility through video conferencing in December 2020, will inaugurate the in-patient department (IPD), Patel said.
“Spread across 201 acres, Rajkot AIIMS is a world-class hospital with 720 beds, including ICU and super-speciality beds. On February 25, the Prime Minister will inaugurate 23 operation theatres, a 30-bed AYUSH block and a 250-bed IPD The remaining beds will be made available gradually,” Patel said.
He said the hospital was built at a cost of Rs 1,195 crore, adding the OPD has served around 1.44 lakh patients so far.
According to a government release, the Prime Minister will reach Rajkot AIIMS on Sunday afternoon and address a rally at the city’s Race Course ground later in the evening.
It said he would participate in a one kilometer long road show from the old airport to the public rally site.
Patel said that during the ceremony, the Prime Minister will also virtually inaugurate four other newly constructed AIIMS located at Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh), Bathinda (Punjab), Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh) and Kalyani (West Bengal).
He said five super-speciality hospitals, including the one in Rajkot, have been built by the Center at a cost of Rs 6,300 crore.
The minister said PM Modi will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 48,000 crore of various state and central departments like NHAI, Railways, Energy and Petrochemicals, Roads and Buildings, Ports and Health and Family Welfare.
Of these, projects worth Rs 35,700 crore are for Gujarat, while the remaining are for other states, he said.
Patel said the Prime Minister will launch major projects, including power generation projects in Kutch, laying the foundation stone of the new Mundra-Panipat crude oil pipeline project, new cardiology hospital in Vadodara and doubling of the Rajkot-Surendranagar railway line.
The Prime Minister will arrive at Jamnagar airport late Saturday evening for his Gujarat visit and then stay overnight at the Circuit House after leading a 2-km road show between the two destinations.
On Sunday morning, he will offer prayers at the Shri Bayt Dwarkadhish Temple and then inaugurate the four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and Bayt Dwarka Island.
“The 2.32 km long bridge, consisting of a 900-metre central double span cable-stayed span and a 2.45 km long approach road, was constructed at a cost of Rs 979 crore. The four-lane 27.20-metre wide bridge will have four lanes at Rs 2.50 each. There are meter wide footpaths on each side,” said an official release by the Devbhoomi Dwarka administration on Friday.
PM Modi had laid the foundation stone of this bridge in October 2017 and had said that it will act as a link between the old and new Dwarka.
District Collector GT Pandya said that the bridge which was known as ‘Signature Bridge’ has been renamed as ‘Sudarshan Setu’ or Sudarshan Bridge.
Bayt Dwarka is an island near Okha port, about 30 km from Dwarka city, where the famous Dwarkadhish temple of Lord Krishna is located.
Officials said that currently, devotees visiting the temple at Bayt Dwarka can travel by boat only during the day, while the construction of the bridge will allow them to travel all the time.
The Prime Minister will also visit Dwarka city and offer prayers at the Dwarkadhish temple before addressing a large gathering nearby.
From the venue, he will inaugurate or lay the foundation stone of several projects in Jamnagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Porbandar districts, the official release said.
It said these projects include electrification of 533 km long railway line and inauguration of two offshore pipelines of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas at Vadinar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
