Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stones of multiple development projects worth over Rs 32,000 crores in Jammu on Tuesday.

Addressing a gathering, he said the occasion was not limited to Viksit Bharat-Viksit Jammu alone but included lakhs of people from educational institutions from all around the country.

In a significant step towards upgrading and developing education and skilling infrastructure across the country, the Prime Minister inaugurated, dedicated to the nation and laid foundation stones of several projects worth about Rs 13,375 crores.

The Jammu and Kashmir projects relate to sectors including health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, and civic infrastructure, among others. He distributed appointment orders to about 1500 new Government recruits of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Modi interacted with beneficiaries of various government schemes as part of the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ programme. He praised a clear articulation of the benefits of government schemes by the beneficiaries who interacted with him.

The Prime Minister said the government is committed to reach the doorstep of every beneficiary and no deserving beneficiary will be left behind. “I have full faith in you. We will surely create a Viksit Jammu Kashmir. Dreams that were lying unfulfilled for 70 years will be accomplished by Modi soon,” said the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir is moving forward with a pledge of becoming Viksit, leaving behind the days of despair and separatism. Tuesday’s projects worth Rs 32,000 crore will give a boost to education, skill, jobs, health, industry and connectivity, he said.

The Prime Minister dedicated to the nation permanent campuses of IIT Bhilai, IIT Tirupati, IISER Tirupati, IIITDM Kurnool; academic and residential complex in IIT Patna and IIT Ropar; two permanent campuses of Central Sanskrit University – at Devprayag (Uttarakhand) and Agartala (Tripura).

He inaugurated permanent campuses of IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM Jammu and IIM Bodh Gaya and inaugurated the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) — a pioneer skill training institute on advanced technologies in Kanpur.

The Prime Minister inaugurated and dedicated to the nation, improved infrastructure like hostels, academic blocs, administrative buildings, libraries, auditoriums etc in multiple higher educational institutes across the country like IIT Jammu, NIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, NIT Durgapur, IISER Behrampur, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, IIIT Lucknow, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, Central University of Kerala Kasaragod, among others.

The Prime Minister laid foundation stones of multiple projects for upgrading the infrastructure in several higher educational institutes across the country.

These projects included construction of the permanent campus of Sindhu Central University and IIIT Raichur; the construction of academic block, hostel, faculty quarter etc in IIT Bombay; construction of Hostel and Staff Quarter in IIT Gandhinagar, and construction of Girls’ hostel in BHU, among others.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for a new terminal building at Jammu Airport. To be spread over a 40,000 sqm area, the new terminal building will be equipped with modern facilities catering to about 2000 passengers during peak hours.

In another project, the Prime Minister dedicated to the nation various rail projects in Jammu & Kashmir including the new rail line between Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan (48 Km) and the newly electrified Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan section (185.66 Km).

The Prime Minister flagged off the first Electric Train in the valley and train service between Sangaldan station & Baramulla station.

Among road projects, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of two packages (44.22 KM) of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway connecting Jammu to Katra.